Coalition hopes in doubt as Greek parties meet
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos meets conservative Antonis Samaras on Friday in a possibly doomed attempt to form a government and avoid a repeat election, while EU leaders are warning that Greece's membership of the euro is at stake. Voters enraged by record unemployment and a deep recession punished both the Socialists and conservatives - the only two parties backing an EU/IMF bailout - in an election on Sunday, backing smaller parties that reject the wage cuts and tax hikes required in return for international aid. ...
Bank of England stops QE as inflation worries weigh
LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England voted not to give Britain's struggling economy another cash injection on Thursday as concerns over stubbornly high inflation outweigh the risk of a prolonged recession and renew dangers from the euro zone debt crisis. Ending its program of quantitative easing, or QE, may make life more difficult for Britain's Conservative-led ruling coalition, which was battered in local elections last week and relies on loose monetary policy to soften the pain of austerity measures aimed at cutting the country's huge public borrowing. ...
Inflation-wary Bank of England to halt money-printing press
LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England looks set to call a halt to its asset-buying program on Thursday, despite the economy having slipped into recession and renewed risks rising from the euro zone debt crisis, as UK inflation remains stubbornly high. Ending its program of quantitative easing, or QE, may make life more difficult for Britain's Conservative-led ruling coalition, which was battered in local elections last week and relies on loose monetary policy to soften the pain of austerity measures aimed at cutting the country's huge public borrowing. ...
Looking to China to lift growth
(Reuters) - With the United States struggling through a soft patch and Europe battling recession, China may come to the rescue by demonstrating a resilience that would provide comfort in a sea of economic uncertainty. China, the world's second largest economy, is looking ever more vital to maintaining global economic momentum, and a raft of data to be released this week is expected to provide fresh evidence that its economy bottomed in the first quarter and is starting a gradual turn upwards. ...
Angry Greeks vote in cliffhanger election
ATHENS (Reuters) - Angry Greek voters headed to the polls on Sunday for an election shrouded in uncertainty that could reignite Europe's debt crisis and renew doubts about the country's future in the euro zone. At stake in the first general election since the debt crisis exploded at the end of 2009 is whether Greece sticks to the terms of deeply unpopular EU/IMF bailouts which saved it from bankruptcy but propelled it into a deep, protracted recession. ...
ECB to hold fire on growth steps in crisis-hit Spain
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank will resist pressure to do more to fight the euro zone crisis when it meets in Barcelona on Thursday, holding fire despite calls to restart its bond-buying program to help austerity-hit Spain. Financial markets are clamoring for the ECB to step up its efforts to fight the two-year crisis by buying the sovereign bonds of Spain, which is in recession and is struggling to convince some of its people of the need for further austerity. ...
Europeans protest austerity at May Day rallies
ATHENS (Reuters) - Workers across southern Europe protested against spending cuts in May Day rallies on Tuesday, before weekend elections in Greece and France where voters are expected to punish leaders for austerity. Unions in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Greece used the traditional marches to express anger over a savings drive across the euro zone, aimed at shoring up public finances but criticized for forcing countries deeper into recession. ...
UK risks longer slump as euro woes hit factories
LONDON (Reuters) - The manufacturing sector barely grew in April as an economic slowdown in the euro zone curbed export demand, raising the chances the Bank of England (BoE) will vote for another cash boost to prevent a longer recession. The weakness in manufacturing also cranks up the heat on the governing Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, which is grappling a shrinking economy and a series of political blunders as parties face a test of popularity in local elections on Thursday. ...
Europeans to protest austerity at May Day rallies
ATHENS (Reuters) - Thousands of workers across southern Europe will protest against spending cuts as part of annual May Day rallies on Tuesday, days before elections in Greece and France where voters are expected to punish leaders for austerity. Unions in Greece, Spain, Portugal and France will use traditional marches to express their anger over an austerity drive across the euro zone, aimed at shoring up public finances but criticized for forcing countries deeper into recession. ...
Signs of slowing economy drive S&P down in April
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 posted its first monthly decline since November on Monday, as stocks slipped on signs the U.S. economy may be slowing and as a recession in Spain highlighted risks in the euro zone. Despite Monday's decline, the picture was not overwhelmingly negative. The S&P closed out April with a decline of 0.8 percent, after four straight days of gains last week helped the index pare much steeper losses for the month. ...
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