25 May 2010

Bank bailout hits Wall Street

8:39 am on 25 May 2010

Wall Street has reacted badly to news that the Bank of Spain had to bail out a major regional lender over the weekend, as the International Monetary Fund warned Spain it needs far-reaching reforms to cut debt and help the economy.

The Dow Jones Index finished down 126 points on Monday, or 1.2%, at 10,066.

The Nasdaq Composite closed down 16 points, or 0.7%, at 2212.

The Australian 200 Index closed up 89 points, or 2%, at 4395.

The NZX 50 closed 11 points higher, or 0.3%, at 3061 on turnover of $70 million.

At 8.05am on Tuesday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 67.15 US cents, 81.05 Australian cents, 46.52 pence, 60.63 yen and 0.5426 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 65.28.

Brent crude oil was trading at $US69.57 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1193 per ounce.