S&P

Stock index futures fell on Monday as concerns grew about the state of Europe's finances as Greece and Germany sparred over budget measures for Athens.

A tankless toilet so inspired Japan's Panasonic Corp. that the company will end their production of water-logged toilets and focus on the design alternative.

Throughout all of Europe we have seen the rise in the polls of extreme right political parties.

Plans to launch a European ratings agency to compete with Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings are at an advanced stage, and a new private institution could start business as soon as the first half of this year, German businessman Roland Berger told an Italian newspaper.

U.S. stocks posted their best week since Christmas, even with a mixed finish on Friday after comparatively strong earnings reports from tech bellwethers IBM and Intel Corp. contrasted with a relatively weak report from Google Inc.

Ratings agency Standard & Poors hit back at Italian prosecutors on Thursday after sources said its offices in Milan were visited by tax police pursuing a probe into the impact of S&P's reports on Italian share prices.

Credit rating agency says decision inevitable following cuts to creditworthiness of two EFSF guarantors, France and Austria.

Germany, the only major eurozone member to retain a top-notch credit rating, refused Monday to consider boosting the bloc's rescue fund, while Greece was under pressure to urgently break a deadlock in debt swap talks if it is to avoid an unruly default.

An exit from the euro by Greece appears likelier by the day.

European shares and the euro gradually recovered on Monday from early losses triggered by the mass downgrade of euro zone sovereign ratings last week, but they still looked vulnerable amid rising fears of a disorderly Greek debt default.

Standard & Poor's credit rating downgrades of nine Eurozone countries will fuel attempts by European Union lawmakers to slap stricter curbs on sovereign ratings.

Mass Eurozone ratings downgrades are unlikely to shake up investors too much, but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defenses and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.

Gold firmed in Europe on Monday, rising back above $1,640 an ounce, as a recovery in stock markets and the euro took some downward pressure off prices, with traders digesting last week's mass downgrade of euro zone countries from Standard & Poor's.

Euro zone bank shares fell but stocks seen as resilient to an economic slowdown gained on Monday in the wake of Standard and Poor's mass downgrade of euro zone sovereign ratings, while the euro hovered near 17-month lows against the dollar.

The European Central Bank will do all it can to calm the situation after Standard & Poor's downgraded several euro zone members' debt ratings in the past week, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said on Sunday.

Financial markets are unlikely to be derailed by mass euro zone downgrades, but with Greek debt talks at an impasse, pressure has been loaded on the bloc to shore up its defenses and glimmers of optimism from last week have been firmly doused.

Stock investors will return to a tug of war between signs of domestic strength and overseas concerns next week as a batch of critical earnings reports look to add credence to the idea the economy is improving, while credit rating downgrades in Europe will keep that region's difficulties in view.

Credit-rating downgrades in the Eurozone by Standard & Poor's underline why Europe must seal a pact to tighten fiscal rules quickly and get its permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.

The top credit rating of Europe's bailout fund depends on additional financial backing from Germany and the other three remaining AAA-rated Eurozone countries, Standard & Poor's said on Friday.

Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of nine Eurozone governments on Friday, an unprecedented relegation that included France and Austria but spared Germany.

European shares fell on Friday after sources said credit rating agency Standard & Poor's was set to go through with a long-mooted downgrade of several eurozone countries, weighing on sentiment for riskier assets such as equities.