Tue Mar 22, 2016 5:54am EDT
LONDON | BY JAMIE MCGEEVER
Reuters
European stocks fell and investors rushed for the safety of gold and government bonds on Tuesday, after two explosions at Brussels airport killed several people and blasts at metro stations in the Belgian capital.
Travel sector stocks including airlines and hotels fell the most, pulling the broader indices down from multi-week highs as reports on the scale of the carnage in the de facto capital of the European Union unfolded.
Belgian media reported that at least 11 people had been killed and that one of the blasts at the airport was a suicide bomber. This came four days after the arrest in Brussels of a suspected participant in November militant attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.
"The initial reaction in financial markets has been airline stocks all lower, and safe-haven capital flow with gold, German government bonds and the Japanese yen in demand," said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at London Capital Group.
"The news has certainly overshadowed much of the euro zone economic data this morning," she said.
At 0915 GMT the FTSEuroFirst 300 index of leading shares was down 1 percent at 1,326 points .FTEU3. Germany's DAX was also down 1 percent and Belgian stocks were down 0.8 percent .BEL20. These indices had earlier been down twice as much.
The STOXX Europe 600 Travel & Leisure index .SXTP was the top sectoral faller, down 2.2 percent. Shares in major European airlines like easyJet (EZJ.L) and Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) were down as much as 4 percent (LHAG.DE), and hotel company Accor (ACCP.PA) also fell 4 percent.
Gold rose 1 percent to $1,255 an ounce XAU=, and the yield on benchmark German government bonds fell to a two-week low of 0.18 percent EU10YT=RR. U.S. Treasury yields fell 2 basis points across the curve US2YT=RR US10YT=RR.
In currency markets the Japanese yen, often considered a something of a safe-haven asset, rose across the board, notably against the euro. The euro was last down 0.6 percent at 125.10 yen EURJPY= and the dollar was down 0.3 percent at 111.60 yen JPY=.
The single currency fell a third of a percent against the dollar to $1.1205 EUR=.
BLASTS OVERSHADOW DATA
For financial markets, the events in Brussels came in a week where liquidity was starting to dry up ahead of the Easter holiday and investors were beginning to think about cashing in on a steep rally in stocks over the last few weeks.
"Coming up to the Easter holiday, people are going to be very reluctant to put more money into these (stock) markets. If anything, they will be more likely to take money out," said Michael Hewson, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in London.
"Anything like the events we're seeing in Brussels this morning is going to weigh on risk sentiment and risk appetite," he said.
U.S. stock futures pointed to a fall of around a third of one percent on Wall Street ESc1.
Investors paid little attention to the economic data released on Tuesday which showed a slight pick up in German business morale and euro zone business activity in March
Earlier, Asian stocks seesawed as hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials clouded the monetary policy outlook less than a week after Fed Chair Janet Yellen had set out a more cautious path to interest rate increases this year.
The dollar got a mild boost from the suggestion that interest rate hikes could be on the way sooner rather than later.
Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 added 1.9 percent, closing at a one-week high, after markets in Tokyo reopened after a public holiday on Monday. A weaker yen, before the Brussels-related rebound, gave a tailwind to local shares.
Elsewhere, sterling was one of the biggest losers among the major currencies after ratings agency Moody's said Britain's credit rating will be put under pressure by a marked slowdown in fiscal consolidation unveiled in last week's budget.
The warning came amid concerns about Prime Minister David Cameron's ability to keep Britain in the European Union after leading 'Out' campaigner Iain Duncan Smith resigned from the cabinet late on Friday.
Sterling was last down 0.6 percent at $1.4281 GBP=, more than two cents off Friday's one-month high of $1.4514.
It was a rare day of stability in oil markets, with U.S. crude futures unchanged at $41.53 a barrel CLc1 and Brent crude LCOc1 also flat on the day at $41.60.
(Reporting by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
"Ό,τι η ψυχή επιθυμεί, αυτό και πιστεύει." Δημοσθένης (Whatever the soul wishes, thats what it believes, Demosthenes)
Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Brussels Rocked by Deadly Attacks With Blasts at Airport, Subway
Bloomberg
By James G Neuger and Jonathan Stearns
Explosions ripped through the Brussels airport departure hall and a downtown subway station on Tuesday morning, causing deaths and injuries and spurring fears of imminent follow-up attacks in the capital of the European Union.
Belgium’s military sent reinforcements to Brussels after two bombs went off in rapid succession at the airport around 8 a.m., the peak check-in hour for morning flights within Europe. RTL news reported as many as 13 dead and 25 injured. An hour later, an explosion hit a subway station a short walk from EU headquarters, with conflicting reports of casualties.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Turkey’s increasingly desperate predicament poses real dangers
The Washington Post
By Liz Sly February 20 at 7:09 PM
ISTANBUL — Turkey is confronting what amounts to a strategic nightmare as bombs explode in its cities, its enemies encroach on its borders and its allies seemingly snub its demands.
As recently as four years ago, Turkey appeared poised to become one of the biggest winners of the Arab Spring, an ascendant power hailed by the West as a model and embraced by a region seeking new patrons and new forms of governance.
All that has evaporated since the failure of the Arab revolts, shifts in the geopolitical landscape and the trajectory of the Syrian war.
By Liz Sly February 20 at 7:09 PM
ISTANBUL — Turkey is confronting what amounts to a strategic nightmare as bombs explode in its cities, its enemies encroach on its borders and its allies seemingly snub its demands.
As recently as four years ago, Turkey appeared poised to become one of the biggest winners of the Arab Spring, an ascendant power hailed by the West as a model and embraced by a region seeking new patrons and new forms of governance.
All that has evaporated since the failure of the Arab revolts, shifts in the geopolitical landscape and the trajectory of the Syrian war.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Ankara blast: Turkey vows retaliation for deadly bomb attack
18-2-2016
49 minutes ago
BBC
Turkey has vowed to retaliate against the perpetrators of a
powerful blast in the capital Ankara that left at least 28 people dead and 61
injured.
"Turkey will not shy away from using its right to
self-defence at any time, any place or any occasion," President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan said.
Officials said a vehicle full of explosives was detonated as
military buses were passing by on Wednesday.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Greece's deputy finance minister gets bullet, threatening letter in post
Mon Oct 26,
2015 4:58pm EDT
ATHENS
Reuters
Many Greeks
blame Germany , Europe 's biggest economy, for the austerity programs
linked to the country's 86 billion euro ($95 billion) international bailout
agreed in August.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Will Pakistan’s grief force it to cut ties with Islamic militants?
By Matthew Green December 17, 2014
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Greek extremist Christodoulos Xiros threatens government
20 January
2014 Last updated at 16:28 GMT
BBC
A Greek
fugitive who disappeared while on prison leave has threatened the government
with armed action, accusing it of ruining the country with austerity measures.
Christodoulos
Xiros, who was convicted in 2003 of belonging to the far-left November 17
organisation, has vowed to return to arms.
He was
serving six life sentences for bombings and shootings.
He vanished
in January while on leave from prison to visit his family.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Greek Police Hunt for Convicted Terrorist Who Disappeared on Furlough
January 7,
2014
The New
York Times
By NIKI
KITSANTONIS
ATHENS —
The Greek authorities on Tuesday began a nationwide search for a convicted
member of the dismantled November 17 group, once the country’s deadliest
guerrilla organization, after he failed to report to the police during a prison
furlough, fueling fears of a resurgence of political violence.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Gunmen in Greece Attack German Ambassador’s Residence
December
30, 2013
The New
York Times
By LIZ
ALDERMAN
Assailants
raked the German ambassador’s residence in Athens with gunfire early on Monday in an
attack that caused no injuries, Greek police officials said.
The police
found 60 spent bullet casings at the scene and detained six people in
connection with the incident, which occurred around 3:30 a.m. in an affluent
suburb north of Athens .
The bullet casings came from two Kalashnikov assault rifles, according to the
police.
No one
claimed responsibility for the attack, in which four bullets hit a security
gate. But anti-German sentiment has been festering among many Greeks struggling
with record unemployment and reduced salaries under a harsh austerity plan
required for Greece ’s
international bailout, which Germany
had a major role in selecting the terms of.
“Nothing,
but really nothing, can justify such an attack on a representative of our
country,” the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said in a
statement in Berlin .
He said Germany took the
attack seriously, and a Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the Greek
authorities had reacted swiftly and assured Germany
they would strengthen security in Athens .
Chancellor
Angela Merkel of Germany
received a phone call from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of Greece ,
according to a spokesman for the German government, Steffen Seibert. He added
that Greece , which on
Wednesday will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union, can
count on Germany ’s
full support.
“The Greek
government expresses its abhorrence and utter condemnation of today’s cowardly
act of terrorism, the sole and obvious target of which was Greece’s image
abroad just a few days before the start of the Hellenic presidency of the
Council of the E.U.,” the Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
That has
also fed a persistent low-grade anger over hundreds of billions of euros in
reparations that Greeks say Germany
owes the country from World War II, money that some say should go toward
helping to forgive Greece ’s
debt bill. Greek newspapers regularly run articles on how much money Germany owes Greece .
Over the
weekend, Jens Weidmann, the chairman of the German Bundesbank and a member of
the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, ruled out another reduction in Greece ’s state debt, saying in a German
newspaper interview that Athens
still needed to press ahead with a number of reforms as required by the terms
of its bailout.
While
financial markets have calmed recently, he told the newspaper Bild, “this could
be some misleading safety. The crisis could be fanned again like a fire.”
His remarks
echoed those of the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, who is widely
reviled in Greece .
During a visit to Athens
this summer, the police locked down the center of the city to pedestrian and
car traffic as helicopters flew overhead, leaving the streets in a ghostly
state of quiet. The scenes were reminiscent of when Ms. Merkel visited Greece in 2012.
Representatives
of the so-called troika of lenders — the European Central Bank, the
International Monetary Fund and the European Commission — are scheduled to
return to Athens in January to resume talks over a fresh 4.9 billion euro
tranche of aid.
The same
building as the one struck on Monday was targeted in a rocket attack in May
1999 claimed by the terrorist group November 17, which has since been
dismantled.
Although no
group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday, the incident follows
an apparent rise in violent episodes by both far-right and far-left groups in Greece .
Niki
Kitsantonis contributed reporting from Athens ,
and Alison Smale from Berlin .
Monday, November 18, 2013
Greece's Golden Dawn gains support after members killed-poll
ATHENS Sat Nov 16, 2013 2:01pm EST
(Reuters) -
Support for Greece 's
far-right Golden Dawn party has grown since two members were gunned down by
unknown assailants this month, an opinion poll released on Saturday showed.
The party, Greece 's third
most popular, had shed almost a third of support following the fatal stabbing
in September of an anti-fascism rapper blamed on a Golden Dawn sympathizer.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Previously Unknown Group Says It Shot Greek Extremists
By Alkman
Granitsas
The Wall
Steet Journal
Urban
Guerrillas Say They Killed Two and Injured One in Retaliation for Rap Artist's
Murder
A
previously unknown urban guerrilla group has claimed responsibility for the
shooting of three alleged members of Greece 's
far-right Golden Dawn party earlier this month outside local party offices in a
suburb north of Athens .
Friday, November 1, 2013
At least two killed in shooting outside Athens Golden Dawn office
(Reuters) -
At least two people were killed in a drive-by shooting outside the offices of Greece 's far-right Golden Dawn party in Athens on Friday, police
sources said.
The attack
comes amid a crackdown by the government on the party after a self-proclaimed
Golden Dawn sympathizer stabbed an anti-fascism rapper to death in September.
Golden
Dawn, Greece's third most popular party according to opinion polls, said on its
website that the victims were aged 20 and 23 years old. Police had not yet
verified their identities and details on the shooting were not immediately
available.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Hooded assailants start fire at Greek minister's office
ATHENS |
Wed Oct 9, 2013 4:52pm EDT
(Reuters) -
Six hooded assailants doused the office of Greece's merchant marine minister
with gasoline on Wednesday and set it on fire, causing only minor damage to the
entrance, police said.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Three men charged with undermining Boston bombing probe
3:26pm EDT
By Scott
Malone, Tim McLaughlin and Mark Hosenball
BOSTON/WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - U.S. authorities on Wednesday charged three men with interfering
with the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing, accusing two students
from Kazakhstan of hiding a laptop computer and backpack belonging to one of
the suspected bombers.
The third
man, a U.S. citizen named Robel Phillipos, was charged with making false
statements to investigators.
Friday, April 19, 2013
With Boston Manhunt, Media Is Part of a Story It Is Covering
The New
York Times
April 19,
2013
By BRIAN
STELTER
Reporters,
camera crews and ordinary citizens with cellphone cameras were squarely in the
middle of the manhunt in Boston
that gripped the nation on Friday, and the result was some of the most
startling, and at times unnerving, news coverage in years.
Police officer shot to death at MIT campus near Boston
By Scott
Malone
(Reuters) -
A police officer for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was shot to
death on Thursday night at the school's Cambridge
campus, touching off a manhunt in a community on edge just days after the
Boston Marathon bombing.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Boston bomb suspect identified on video, no arrest made
By Svea
Herbst-Bayliss and Scott Malone
(Reuters) -
Investigators believe they have identified a suspect in the Boston Marathon
bombing from security video, a law enforcement source said on Wednesday, but no
arrest had yet been made.
Police may
make an appeal to the public for more information at a news conference
scheduled for later on Wednesday, a government source said.
Earlier,
CNN reported a suspect was in custody, citing Boston and law enforcement sources, but later
retracted its report.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Makeshift bomb injures two at Greek shopping mall
By George
Georgiopoulos
(Reuters) -
A makeshift bomb lightly injured two security staff at a large shopping center
near Athens on
Sunday, in escalating political violence in the crisis-hit country.
Explosive device at shopping mall near Athens injures two
ATHENS |
Sun Jan 20, 2013 4:29am EST
(Reuters) -
An explosive device went off on Sunday at a shopping centre near Athens causing
damage and lightly injuring two security employees, police said.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Gun attack on PM's party HQ escalates Greek violence
By Dina
Kyriakidou and George Georgiopoulos
(Reuters) -
Unidentified attackers opened fire on the headquarters of Greece 's
governing New Democracy party with a Kalashnikov assault rifle early on Monday,
in what the government said was a worrying escalation in political violence.
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