European Markets Remain Volatile

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　　European Commission spokesperson Ollie Bailly said Monday that the measures taken by the European Central Bank should calm investors²' jitters³.

　　"All of the messages that came over the weekend from the G20, the G7, the different member states and the European Central Bank go in the right direction, in the good, in the same direction, and send a strong message of confidence to the markets and to the key players," Bailly said.

　　The European Central Bank, or ECB, announced Sunday that it would buy Spanish and Italian bonds in order to stabilize⁴ the markets.  The move was designed to allay⁵ fears that two of Europe’s largest economies might default on their debts.

　　Already, the eurozone has bailed⁶ out three of its member nations -- Greece, Ireland and Portugal - to prevent them from defaulting.

　　On Monday, dealers⁷ said the ECB began buying Italian and Spanish debt as soon as European bond markets opened.

　　Initially⁸ the plan seemed to be working.  Yields on 10-year Italian and Spanish bonds fell dramatically, and the euro rose against the dollar.

　　Nick Parsons, an economist⁹ at National Australia Bank, said the ECB had made the right move.

　　"It has been an absolutely critical decision, and I think we are going to have to see much more of this in the future if we are going to continue

　　this spread tightening," Parsons said.

　　But the gains were unstable¹⁰; European markets slipped back in the afternoon.

　　Analysts¹¹ say part of the problem is that investors are worried about the U.S. economy.  On Friday, the U.S. credit rating was downgraded, and on Monday, Wall Street stocks tumbled.

　　The U.S. is the world’s largest economy, and the state of its finances has global repercussions¹².  Shares in Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea also plunged¹³ Monday.

　　Analysts say the problem in Europe is domestic as well.  The ECB and European leaders still, they say, have not made a concrete plan about what they will do next to cope with the European sovereign debt crisis and stagnating¹⁴ economies.

　　Vanessa Rossi from London’s Chatham House is an expert on the European economy.

　　She says, in the first place, it is not clear that the ECB has enough funds to keep Spain and Italy clear of the brink¹⁵.

　　“I would have serious concerns that the amount of funding they would need to be able to make a real impact there will perhaps be more than the resources they wish to allocate,” Rossi said.

　　Government policy, she says, is not aimed at creating economic growth, and nations are relying on exports to keep their economies afloat.

　　"The difficulty is that governments virtually have no fire power left to provide any stimulus," Rossi said.

　　On Friday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced plans to balance the country's budget by 2013 - a year earlier than planned - while Spain has also promised to speed up cost-saving measures.

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