International Report

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.51% to close at 10,321.03. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.21% to close at 1,102.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.08%, to close at 2,234.22. The benchmark Nikkei climbed 24.07 points to 10,126.03. The Topix gained 0.3% to close at 894.10.

Yesterday, Greece pushed back a crucial bond issue because of a possible downgrade of its sovereign credit rating- by Moody’s joining Standard & Poor’s in threatening to cut Greece’s credit rating within a month. This increased fears that the global economy could slip back into recession. The bond issue is planned to be released next week. According to official figures, in February Germany’s unemployment figures have risen by less than expected. The Federal Labour Office figures showed that the number of jobless rose by 7,000 from the previous month, taking the unemployment total to 3.43m.

Due for release today is the GBP Nationwide HPI m/m, GBP Revised GDP q/q, CHF KOF Economic Barometer, USD Prelim GDP q/q and the USD Existing Home Sales.

by Greg Secker

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