Economy
In reply to the discussion: STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 30 January 2012 [View all]Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)European stocks fell for a second day amid concern todays meeting of the regions leaders will fail to draw a line under the sovereign-debt crisis. U.S. index futures and Asian shares declined...
... The Stoxx Europe 600 Index retreated 0.7 percent to 253.55 as of 8:05 a.m. in London. The benchmark gauge has still rallied 18 percent from its Sept. 22 low as the U.S. economy maintained its recovery and speculation grew that the euro area will contain the debt crisis.
The outlook for economic growth in Europe in 2012 is not a healthy one and consensus forecasts for earnings-per-share growth likely do need to be adjusted downwards, said Ian Scott, the chief global strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in London. Nevertheless, even a recession in the euro area, and very slow growth elsewhere, is unlikely to be sufficient to undermine the market if governments and central banks are able to stabilize sovereign spreads and lessen the immediate tail risk of a messy sovereign default.
Futures on the Standard & Poors 500 Index expiring in March fell 0.7 percent and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index retreated 0.9 percent.
/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-30/european-u-s-stock-index-futures-fall-before-summit-asian-shares-slide.html