Markets Remain Pressured by Eurozone Situation. Italian Banks Downgraded

15 May 2012 15 May 2012

SondraHunter

Financial markets continued the same pessimistic tone, mainly driven by the situation in the Eurozone. The same deadlock remained in Greece with no progress in the formation of a coalition government. Credit ratings of a number of Italian banks were downgraded although bond auction results came in better than expected. Wall Street plunged with the DJIA and the S&P 500 losing -0.98% and -1.11% respectively. In the commodity sector, the front-month contract for WTI crude oil slipped to as low as 93.65 before rebounding to 94.78 at close, down -1.40%, while the equivalent Brent crude contract plummeting to 110.04 before ending the day at 111.57, down -0.61%. the Comex gold contract declined further to 1561.0, down -1.45% at close.