Standard & Poor's is expected to announce later on Monday that it may downgrade the credit ratings of all 17 euro zone countries, two EU officials told Reuters.
The aforementioned designation suggests a 50 percent chance of a downgrade within 90 days.
The catalyst for strong equities has been centered on the developments in Europe
Shares of Hewlett-Packard, the world’s biggest computer company, rose slightly Thursday, a day after Standard & Poor’s downgraded the company’s credit two notches.
Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.4-0.7 percent.
Stocks fell and the euro weakened Wednesday after Standard & Poor's hit some of the world's leading banks with a credit downgrade and euro zone leaders' move to ramp up the regional bailout fund drew a tepid response.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) are among a group of 37 large financial institutions that were downgraded today by Standard & Poor's, according to Bloomberg News. The downgrades were somewhat expected, as S&P had announced earlier in the year it would be revising its methodology for rating banks in order to give more weight to those institutions' capital ratios.
At mid-day Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65.47 points to 11,588.48, up 0.57 percent from the previous session's close. The benchmark S&P 500 Index was at 1,198.66 points, up 6.11, or 0.51 percent. The NASDAQ index was down 0.28 percent, or 7.10 points, to 2,520.24.
At more than 25 miles long, the newest offshore discovery is roughly the length of the Houston city metroplex, and at 662 feet deep, it contains an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's could change the outlook for France's triple-A rating to negative within the next 10 days, a French newspaper reported on Monday, citing several sources. Such a move would signal a possible downgrade.
S&P cut the credit rating of the Los Gatos, Calif.-based company to BB- from BB. Its outlook remains stable.
Stocks surged about three percent on Monday on hopes that fresh proposals may emerge out of Europe to help solve the region's debt crisis.
Gold prices surged Monday as German and French leaders worked on emergency plan to save the Eurozone within weeks rather than months and strong U.S. retail buying bolstered equities.
The Austrian banking system is on fire: getting singed not only by the heat of the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, but also by the immolation of an Eastern European asset bubble the banks had been underwriting for a decade. Stumbling, contradictory guidance from the management of several banks has not helped either. And a stalling Austrian economy is only likely to make things worse
Stock index futures were lower on Wednesday as worries about the euro zone crisis and weak data from China weighed on investor sentiment, putting the S&P 500 on track for a sixth day of losses.
Stock index futures were lower on Wednesday as worries over Europe once again weighed on investor sentiment, putting the S&P 500 on track for a sixth day of losses.
Stocks fell for a fifth day in a row on Tuesday, having lost more than 5 percent over that period as borrowing costs in Spain hit another record high.
U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Tuesday as persistent concerns over Europe kept investors on edge after four days of market losses.
Asian shares edged down Tuesday as fears about the ability of politicians on either side of the Atlantic to tackle huge debt burdens sapped investors' confidence in the outlook for Western economies.
U.S. stocks dropped about 2 percent on Monday, putting the S&P on track for its fourth straight day of losses as concerns about heavy debt loads both domestically and abroad added uncertainty to a troubled market.
Stocks were little changed on Friday, but easing European sovereign debt yields kept the S&P 500 above a key technical level.
Wall Street stocks were set to bounce back on Friday after Europe's debt crisis drove heavy market losses this week, with the S&P 500 falling through important technical levels and possibly facing another key test of strength.
