A quick recapitalisation of European banks is necessary to steady markets and avert the economy from falling into another recession, IMF Europe Director, Antonio Borges, said late on Wednesday. The price tag for such a move was estimated in the range between €100bn and €200bn, he said. According to the IMF report, the eurozone debt crisis and its effects are disseminating across core banks and nations and make it impossible to rule out a further economic recession. The report cautioned that stronger economies should steer clear of compelling radical budget cuts at the expense of growth. The IMF offered its help through the possible implementation of a financing tool that allows it to buy bonds, particularly Spanish and Italian ones, in private markets to assist in curbing the bloc’s debt crisis. “Any investment we would make in Spain or Italy would be based on full confidence that these countries are on the right track, that they are solvent and that they are taking all the measures they should, Borges told a news conference.

India’s economy in the July to September quarter expanded at its slowest pace in over two years to 6.9 percent year-on-year compared to 8.4 percent for the same period last year. Data released Wednesday by the Central Statistics Office showed that manufacturing experienced a sharp decline, growing only 2.7 percent, while mining contracted by 2.9 percent following a 1.8 percent growth in the preceding quarter. The slowdown was attributed to rising interest rates, high inflation and global capital markets, the government said. The Reserve Bank of India has hiked rates 13 times since March 2010 to restrain inflation.

Fitch Ratings late on Monday warned the US it may cut its AAA rating if policymakers failed to agree on a “credible plan” to reduce its swelling budget deficit by 2013. There is a “slightly greater than 50 percent chance of a downgrade over a two year horizon,” said Fitch. The ratings agency downgraded the US outlook from stable to negative after a bipartisan super-committee failed to agree on much needed $1.2trn deficit cutting measures.  “The negative outlook reflects Fitch’s declining confidence that timely fiscal measures necessary to place US public finances on a sustainable path and secure the US AAA sovereign rating will be forthcoming,” said a Fitch statement. Meanwhile, UK chancellor George Osborne will on Tuesday deliver his autumn statement to the House of Commons. Osborne is due to unveil measures which will focus on tackling the increased deficit of almost £30bn. 

Britain’s blue-chip ended lower for the ninth consecutive session on Thursday, marking its worst run since January 2003, after Germany reiterated its opposition to the use of euro bonds or monetary tools to help solve the eurozone’s debt crisis. Following a meeting with the leaders of France and Italy, German chancellor, Angela Merkel, quashed market hopes that Europe’s paymaster would open the door to the launch of joint eurozone bonds or a quantitative easing programme by the European Central Bank. “It was a completely wrong signal; anyone that was in for the short term closed their position,” Lee Curtis, a trader at City Index, said. With Wall Street shut for Thanksgiving, trading volumes on the FTSE 100 were light at 88 percent of their 90-dayaverage, encouraging intra-day profit taking and causing sharp moves on the index, traders said. The FTSE 100 closed 0.24 percent lower at 5,127.57 points, having risen to a day high of 5,184 in morning trade, boosted by better-than-expected macro data from Germany, before falling to a trough of 5,098 in the afternoon, when Merkel made her comments. “People were just taking profits where they could, that’s all. From an eight-days trough, they were just seeing a bit of profit and they were taking,” Adam Saward, a trader at Penson Financial Services, said. “No-one is looking to see any good news until the end of the year,” Saward noted, adding he expects the FTSE 100 to climb around 200 points to 5,300 in the remainder of the […]

Telecoms equipment giant Nokia Siemens Networks has said it will be shedding 17,000 staff globally in an attempt to bolster profitability in a stagnating network gear market. The company plans to cut a quarter of its workforce by the end of 2013 in a restructuring that will allow it to focus in mobile broadband equipment. Nokia Siemens CEO, Rajeev Suri, said the elimination would help the group cut annual operating costs by around $1.35bn by the end of 2013. “As we look towards the prospect of an independent future, we need to take action now to improve our profitability and cash generation. These planned reductions are regrettable but necessary,” Suri said.