COMMERZBANK

A disastrous German bond sale on Wednesday sparked fears that Europe's debt crisis was even beginning to threaten Berlin, with the leaders of the euro zone's two strongest economies still firmly at odds over a longer-term structural solution.

Profits at Italian bank UniCredit have all but evaporated and capital has shrunk to dangerous levels, results due on Monday will show as the bank prepares a $10 billion rights issue and 5,000 job cuts to get back on track.

Agricole’s problems may just be starting.

World leaders on Friday identified 29 banks deemed so important to the global financial system that they require more capital and closer supervision, as well as a plan that would safeguard taxpayers should they fail.

Commerzbank is 25-percent-owned by the German government

Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission (EC), nonetheless told reporters in Cannes that Berlusconi was not forced into it.

Private sector activity in the euro zone shrank at its fastest pace in 28 months in October as the debt crisis sapped new business and soured sentiment in an economy looking like it is heading into a slump, survey data showed on Friday.

World stocks and the euro rose on Friday, boosted by expectations that Greece will avoid a referendum on a new bailout package, easing imminent concerns of a Greek default and its potential shockwaves through the euro zone.

Commerzbank will accelerate a pullback from euro zone nations and cut risky assets to avoid another state bailout after a 798 million euros ($1.10 billion) impairment on Greek assets pushed it to a third-quarter operating loss.

French banks and lenders exposed to Greece and other weak euro zone countries slumped on Tuesday after Greece's leader said he would put a bailout plan to a referendum, raising the risk of a disorderly default.

Oil prices fell more than $2 per barrel on Tuesday as the outlook for global growth darkened with renewed crisis in the euro zone and data suggesting economic activity in key economies was slowing more quickly than expected.

French banks and other lenders exposed to Greece and other weak euro zone countries slumped on Tuesday after Greece's leader said he would put a bailout plan to a referendum, raising the risk of a disorderly default.

Euro zone leaders struck a last-minute deal to limit the damage from the currency bloc's debt crisis early on Thursday but are still far from finalizing plans to slash Greece's debt burden and strengthen their rescue fund.

U.S. oil prices shot to a 12-week high on Tuesday in a second day of frenetic spread trading, with dealers racing to claw back a record discount versus Europe's Brent as they gave in to evidence of tightening supplies.

Gold eased on Wednesday as growing hopes of a resolution to the Eurozone debt crisis persuaded investors to shrug off a downgrade to Spain's credit rating and buy riskier assets such as equities.

Europe's banks will have to achieve a significantly stronger capital position under a quick-fire regulatory health check and may need to raise some 100 billion euros ($137 billion), banking and regulatory sources said on Tuesday.

Gold rose on Wednesday after dipping below $1,600 an ounce as stock markets appeared to have found their footing, but traders said the metal's correlation with volatile equities could trigger more selling.

Industrial commodity prices ended several days of losses on Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would take measures to prevent the economy from sliding into recession, although copper and crude oil held near multi-month lows.

European banks -- particularly those based in France and Germany with heavy exposure to Greek government bonds -- are suffering the worst damage.

European stocks are dropping on reports that the Greek government will not achieve the deficit targets it needs to receive the next tranche of the bailout from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Commodities bounced off lows on Monday after one of the biggest sell-offs since the 2008 financial crisis turned into cautious buying on hopes that Europe would prevent its debt crisis from dragging down the global economy.