Update: US markets slide on weak macro data

US markets opened lower today while the FTSE 100 continued its slide as economic data from China and concerns over Spain's finances dampened sentiment.

The Dow was 0.83% lower at 12,879 shortly after the opening bell, while the S&P traded 0.82% in the red at 1,376. The FTSE 100 was 0.82% down at 5,664 in afternoon trading, while the EuroStoxx 50 slumped 1.79% to 2,310. By 11:12 in Madrid, the yield on a 10-year Spanish bond was up 10.5 basis points at 5.925% despite a board member of the European Central Bank (ECB) assuring markets that rumours of a Spanish bailout were untrue. Meanwhile, gross borrowing by Spanish banks from the ECB nearly doubled from February to March, weighed on banking stocks across the continent - the STOXX ...