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Euro falls amid Eurozone debt woes

Europe's main stock markets and the euro currency fell, with better than expected European growth data overwhelmed by persistent concern over eurozone debt woes.

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Europe's main stock markets and the euro currency fell, with better than expected European growth data overwhelmed by persistent concern over eurozone debt woes at the end of a choppy trading week.

Most European stock markets made early gains, following losses Thursday, but ended in negative territory after US markets opened down.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day off 0.32 percent at 5,925.87 points.

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In Frankfurt the DAX fell 0.55 percent to 7,443.95 points while in Paris the CAC 40 slid 0.11 percent to 4,018.85 points.

Meanwhile in foreign exchange deals, the euro initially jumped as high as $1.4340 but tumbled to $1.4094 by 1630 GMT.

It also lost ground against the Japanese currency, standing at 113.62 yen against 115.31 in late trading Thursday.

"We believe that the negative risks from the sovereign debt crisis are starting to weigh on the euro," said Kathleen Brooks at Rabobank.

"The crisis seems to be entering a new phase with the prospect of a second bailout for Greece... investors remain nervous to see how the eurozone authorities deal with the first real challenge to their monetary union," she added.

The European markets were initially bouyed by news that economic expansion across the 17-country eurozone almost trebled to 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2011, from 0.3 percent in the last three months of 2010.

However the growth was uneven with Germany and France leading the way while the outlook for crisis-hit Greece worsened amid talks on a second Athens bailout due in Brussels on Monday.

The Greek economy grew by 0.8 percent in the first quarter, but that was from downward revised figure from the fourth quarter of last year. It shrank by 4.8 percent over 12 months.

Athens is currently undergoing a critical audit of its finances by experts from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, which last year rescued the country from bankruptcy with a 110-billion-euro ($158-billion) bailout loan.

"Much better than expected Q1 GDP growth out of Germany and France had seen equities rebound, with commodity stocks and banks leading the way," said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.

"A rebound in commodity prices helped with oil prices and copper rebounding from yesterday's lows, however as the afternoon has progressed these gains have started to erode away and from being the biggest sector gainer they have slipped back," he added.

Most other European bourses also ended down on the day with Madrid stocks losing 1.25 percent of value, and Amsterdam shares prices down 0.74 percent.

The Milan and Lisbon bourses suffered smaller drops, 0.11 percent and 0.10 percent respectively, while Swiss stocks were flat.

The Brussels bourse however saw gains, adding 0.21 percent.

In the United States the early movement was also downwards.

At 1600 GMT the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.52 percent at 12,630.00 points.

The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.70 percent at 1,339.19 while the tech-heavy NASDAQ composite shed 0.73 percent to 2,842.06 points.

Asian shares finished mixed Friday, after China tightened monetary policy further in its battle to tame inflation, stoking regional concerns of a slowdown in the world's number two economy.

Tokyo ended the day down 0.70 percent at 9,648.77 and Seoul closed 0.12 down percent 2,120.08.

But Hong Kong closed up 0.88 percent at 23,276.27, while Shanghai added 0.95 percent, with analysts saying the reserve requirement hike had been widely expected.

On the currency markets in London Friday, the euro was changing hands at $1.4094 against $1.4244 in late New York trading Thursday, at 113.62 yen (115.31) and 1.2594 Swiss francs (1.2592)

The dollar stood at 80.64 yen (80.95) and 0.8939 Swiss francs (0.8839).

The pound was at $1.6167 ($1.6290)


4 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AFP


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