Eurozone

Spain has sunk further into recession, after official data showed its stricken economy shrank by 0.4% in the second quarter of this year.

The European Central Bank (ECB) could face extended losses as it prepares a last-ditch attempt to prevent a Greek exit from the eurozone.

Investment bank Citigroup has forecast a 90% chance Greece will leave the euro in the next 12 to 18 months.

Spain and Germany have moved to reassure investors the former will not need a full-blown bailout, while Greece has found itself back in the headlines after a warning it faces imminent bankruptcy.

BlackRock's Vincent Devlin said country risk is a serious threat for European equity investors as markets decouple in reaction to the eurozone crisis.

Spain's 5-year bond yields hit a new euro-era high at a disappointing auction today as investors cast doubt on the country's ability to repay its debt.

Eurozone economies are in critical danger and in dire need of expansive quantitative easing measures from the ECB, according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff report.

After two years of intense negotiations and 19 crisis summits, EU leaders are still deeply divided over what action is needed to solve the eurozone sovereign debt crisis.

The IMF has cut its forecasts for UK GDP growth for both this year and next as it warns of a "ratcheting up" of financial market and sovereign stress in the eurozone periphery.

Moody's has cut Italy's credit rating by two notches to Baa2 as the euro area's third biggest economy faces higher funding costs and contagion risk from Greece and Spain.