Business
Markets react after Obama’s tough talk on Iran
Athens last week took the first concrete steps toward making sure that a small number of holdouts cannot scupper the deal. The Greek parliament is expected to introduce so-called collective action clauses, which would force holdouts to participate in the bond swap as long as a majority of investors approve.
Other headwinds in Europe stem from Spain, whose prime minister said Friday that the country will miss its deficit goal for this year, risking sanctions from the European Union. The announcement came as the government reported a big rise in claims for jobless benefits and a forecast that economic output will fall this year.
Louis Wong, director of Phillip Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong, said markets were in a holding pattern head of the release of U.S. jobs data for February on Friday and a meeting Thursday of the European Central Bank, which is under pressure to reduce interest rates to help a waning eurozone economy.
“The market is taking a pause after the recent rally,” Wong said. “Various central banks are having their interest rate meetings this week, and also the U.S. will release a batch of economic data.”
Benchmark oil was down 5 cents to US$106.65 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell US$2.14 to finish at US$106.70 per barrel on Friday.
In currencies, the euro fell to US$1.3166 from US$1.3204 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 81.27 yen from 81.81 yen.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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