EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as talks on a second Greek bailout look set to be concluded tomorrow.

Shares in British banks were broadly down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after Moody's cut the sovereign rating of Ireland and held the nation's outlook on negative.

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as movement at the European Central Bank appeared to offset fears about sovereign debt in the eurozone.

Shares in British banks were up on the FTSE 100 in afternoon trading following the news that Portugal has asked for a bailout from the European Union.

Both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank will be announcing their interest rate decisions tomorrow, and while no change is expected from the BoE there could be movement at the ECB.

The equity markets began to deteriorate weeks before the devastating natural disaster in Japan. Food inflation in the emerging markets and the ensuing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa causing an unwelcome spike in oil prices, and hawkish comments from the European Central Bank at a time when the continent's peripheral countries are struggling, collectively weighed on equity prices. Now news from Japan that is troublingly fluid regarding the earthquake's aftermath, which has soc...

During the height of the financial crisis, the U.S. dollar spiked as investors fled to the quality and safety of what is considered to be the world's reserve currency. Peaking in March 2009, the dollar has had but one strong rally since. That occurred in late spring 2010 as worries that the U.S. might experience a double-dip recession heightened. As equities were sold investors once again plowed into the valued destination of the dollar. In both instances the dollar's store of value be...

With flagging economies and worries about austerity measures further crimping growth, about the last thing central bankers from the U.K. and Europe need to consider is combating inflation. But that is exactly what is being heaped upon decision-makers at the moment.

The daisy chain of events manifesting from the European fiscal crisis that initially consumed Greece then Ireland in its wake has skipped into Portugal. This is not being greeted by market participants as much of a surprise since this development had been foreshadowed for months. Portuguese bond yields had risen above 7%, roughly 4% higher than the benchmark 10-year German bund. This is the inglorious territory of Greek and Irish bond yields just as they were teetering on fiscal insolvency. ...

Shares in British banks were broadly up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading as debt concerns in the eurozone were eased and ahead of a statement from the Bank of England.

Trading in currencies is basically a zero sum game. Rather than a stock or bond that can increase or decrease in value in absolute terms, and might move directionally the opposite of the equity or fixed income markets, currencies are all about relative movement. So in handicapping what might be the fate of the Euro currency in 2011, the question one has to ask is "In relation to what?"

If a week is a long time in politics, then Brian Cowen must be wishing that the relatively short time remaining between now and the next general election in Ireland feels like a decade to the electorate. With the latest polls showing his Fianna Fáil Party's ratings to be around 13 per cent after a lost by-election in Donegal and the first stage of an austerity Budget being passed on 07 December 2010, the Party needs all the time it can get to restore its fortunes.

The shade of Éamon de Valera must be having a wry smile. The party he founded in 1926, Fianna Fáil, was well and truly hammered in the Donegal South West by-election, losing to the candidate of Sinn Féin on 26 November 2010. As Fionnan Sheahan, Political Editor of the Irish Independent newspaper on Saturday, 27 November points out: "The party brand name hasn't won a by-election since 1925, when the post Civil-War version of the organisation was led by Éamon de Valera -- so the result wil...

Next week will see the Bank of England make its latest decision on interest rates and could see Monetary Policy Committee members take a good look at the possibility of raising interest rates.

Shares in British banks were up in afternoon trading and were helping the FTSE 100 fight a rearguard action following an abysmal day of trading yesterday, which saw the index drop 3.1 per cent to 4,914.22, the lowest close for 10 months and only the second time it has gone below 5,000 this year.

Once the full extent of the financial crisis in Greece became apparent, the governments of the EU, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, set about putting together a rescue package which eventually also took account of money market pressures against Portugal and Spain. Owing to several delays in getting this massive project under way, the money markets rapidly lost confidence in any determined action from the EU and Eurozone countries and had started to concentrate, not simply ...

Shares in British banks rose on the FTSE 100 after a few days of losses caused by fears about the state of the eurozone.

Shares in British banks continued to decline on the FTSE 100 thanks to ongoing concerns over sovereign debt in the eurozone.

Shares in British banks fell on the FTSE 100 in morning trading on Monday after yet more bad news from the eurozone gave investors the jitters.

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts? It has been touch and go this past month or so as to whether or not a wooden horse would make a suitable coffin for the euro. The EU itself has been shaken at its very core by a rift between President Sarkozy of France and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel when, was been reported, the French President banged his fist on the table and threatened his country would pull out of the euro if Germany did not give its full backing to a rescue/bailout package for Gre...