❗Help close the gap: We still need to raise $40,000 by the end of March. Donate now

More worries for European markets

Marketplace Staff Oct 22, 2007
HTML EMBED:
COPY

More worries for European markets

Marketplace Staff Oct 22, 2007
HTML EMBED:
COPY

TEXT OF STORY

Doug Krizner: Overseas stock markets are taking it on the chin. Aftershocks of Friday’s rout on Wall Street. The timing of the sell-off was interesting. The 20th anniversary of the ’87 crash, and the start of the weekend meeting of G7 ministers.

As Megan Williams reports from Rome, Europeans are worried the worst is yet to come.


Megan Williams: After Friday’s Wall Street slump and a 2.2 percent loss in the Tokyo market, European markets this morning are down.

Also worrisome for Europeans are signs that the housing market may now be softening for the first time in a decade. As a result of the subprime mortgage crisis, faith that people can repay loans is down, interest rates are up, and it’s tougher to get a mortgage.

The euro, instead, continues to reach record highs against the dollar. It’s now worth about $1.43 and a half.

European leaders at the G7 meeting in Washington over the weekend were hoping for some sign that the U.S. would try to bolster the low dollar, which is threatening European exports, but no reassurance came.

In Rome, I’m Megan Williams for Marketplace.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.