Portugal

Greek bond yields slipped on Friday, slightly outperforming other lower-rated euro zone bonds as investors anticipated a credit ratings upgrade from Moody's later in the day.

Moody's has an extremely speculative Caa3 rating on Greece, the worst in the euro zone. It is scheduled to review the rating on Friday. Any announcement will come after the market closes.

While three quarters of Europeans (75 percent) are satisfied with their lives, only 42 percent of Greeks appear satisfied with their personal situation (compared to 58 percent in autumn 2013), according to a Eurobarometer report regarding life in Europe released on Friday.

By David Goodman

Two years since European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s historic promise to defend his currency bloc, there are signs bond investors are growing too complacent under his protection.

A total of 49.3% of all Bulgarians live below the poverty threshold, a survey by Greek statistical institute EL.STAT shows.

Greece ranks fourth among EU countries in terms of the highest percentage of citizens living on the poverty line, Bulgarian Telegraph Agency informs.

At the end of the first quarter of 2014, Bulgaria's government debt increased by 1.4 percentage points from the last quarter of 2013 and by 2.3 pp from the first quarter of 2013, to 20.3% of the GDP, according to Eurostat.

In the last quarter of 2013 the government debt amounted to 18.9% of the GDP and in the first quarter of 2013 it stood at 18.0% of the GDP.

By Rebecca Christie

Portugal and Greece have money set aside to recapitalize their banks if the European Central Bank uncovers problems during its asset-quality review and stress test, European Stability Mechanism chief Klaus Regling said.

By Marcus Bensasson and Andre Tartar

Greece’s return to bond markets after a four-year exile hasn’t convinced economists it can avoid a third bailout.

The annual inflation in the Euro Area was 0.5% in June 2014, stable compared with May, data released by Eurostat,the statistical office of the European Union showed.

By Christopher Whittall

The divergence between European equity and bank debt is expected to broaden further in the coming months as fundamental changes in banking regulations continue to impact the industry, giving credit investors a lucrative relative value play.

By Martin Santa

Eurozone inflation stayed low as expected in what the European Central Bank calls the «danger zone» in June as falling prices of food and phone calls offset more expensive tobacco and restaurants, data showed on Thursday.