European stocks show slight rise despite currency fears

EUROPEAN markets recovered slightly yesterday despite escalating concern over the eurozone debt crisis and the very future of the single currency itself.

The latest in a string of underwhelming bond auctions saw the yield on six-month Italian bonds hit a record 6.5% and the interest rate for the country’s longer-term bonds go way above levels seen as being sustainable for a country’s finances.

The latest pressure to be heaped upon Italy — the third biggest economy in the eurozone — led European leaders to say that a debt collapse in Italy would spell the end for the euro.