Spanish stocks dropped after elections on Sunday left no clear winner, signalling weeks of political instability ahead.

Greek voters yesterday returned Alexis Tsipras to power with a strong election victory, ensuring that the charismatic leftist remains Greece’s dominant political figure despite caving into European demands for a bailout he once opposed.

Irish life sciences investment firm Malin will appoint director and former Elan chief Kelly Martin as its chief executive as part of a reshuffle of its management team, two sources close to the company said yesterday.

Economic growth in the eurozone slowed in the second quarter as France stagnated and Italy lost momentum, held back by an uncertain global outlook that is even weakening investment in powerhouse Germany.

Mario Draghi can’t afford to play by the same crisis rules as the European Central Bank did in the past.

Greece delayed repayment of an IMF loan yesterday and a deputy minister said Athens might call snap elections to break an impasse with lenders that threatens to push the country into bankruptcy and out of the euro.

Greece has won access to more emergency funding for its banks as euro-area governments prepared for another round of talks on the country’s financial crisis.

Malin, an Irish company set up by a number of former Elan executives to invest in privately held life science assets, plans to raise between €275m and €325m in one of Europe’s biggest biotechnology IPOs.

Mario Draghi this week faces one of the dominant challenges for the euro-area economy in 2015, writes Catherine Bosley

As European Central Bank policy makers gather for their first meeting of 2015, the backdrop is a 0.2% annual drop in consumer prices, the first in more than five years.

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said he can not exclude the risk of deflation in the eurozone, in a sign that the likelihood of large-scale quantitative easing is increasing.

Shares fell in Europe and Greek debt yields rose yesterday after the parliament in Athens rejected the government’s presidential candidate, setting the stage for an election that anti-bailout party Syriza could win.

Here’s an early Christmas present for the economists of Wall Street: 2015 may be the first year in five in which they get to raise forecasts for global economic growth rather than cut them.

British chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s tax cut for homebuyers isn’t reviving concern about another property bubble.

The ECB saw far less demand than expected yesterday for its new four-year loans to banks, raising doubts about a stimulus package it hopes will stave off deflation and revive the eurozone economy.

Weak consumer spending and intense competition among retailers are forcing some makers of packaged goods to lower their prices, intensifying the threat of eurozone deflation.

Euro-area services and manufacturing expanded faster than economists forecast in April, indicating the economy continued to strengthen at the start of the second quarter.

RSA Insurance Group Plc’s Irish unit chief executive officer, Philip Smith, resigned, saying he was made a “fall guy” amid an internal investigation into the insurer’s accounting practices.

Domestic demand drove the strongest German quarterly expansion in more than a year between April and June, fuelling optimism Europe’s largest economy will outperform in 2013 and support the eurozone recovery.

British retail sales rose at their fastest annual rate in over two years in July as a heatwave boosted sales of barbecue food and outdoor items, adding to signs that third-quarter growth has got off to a strong start.

Elan agreed to pay $1bn (€770m) for a share of the royalties on new drugs from Theravance as it tries to persuade shareholders to spurn a takeover offer by Royalty Pharma.

The ECB pondered an interest rate cut yesterday and predicted the eurozone economy would shrink again in 2013, leaving the door open to a possible reduction in borrowing costs early next year.

The eurozone is turning into a more balanced and potentially more dynamic economy thanks to market pressure and the constant demand for structural reforms, a study has found.

German central bank chief Jens Weidmann’s reported threat to resign has piled pressure on ECB president Mario Draghi to mollify opposition to a new bond-buying plan without tying it up in so many knots it is rendered ineffective.

Shares in Kerry Group outpaced all its global peers in the past two months — allowing it to overtake Ryanair as the largest company with a main listing on the Irish Stock Exchange.

ECB president Mario Draghi said it may wade forcefully into bond markets in tandem with Europe’s rescue fund, stepping up its crisis response despite the reservations of Germany’s Bundesbank.

European insurers are expected to report mostly lower quarterly profit over the next two weeks, weighed by falling stock markets, Italian earthquakes and British floods.

There is consensus amongeconomic commentators that the European Central Bank is set to cut its rate by 0.25% tomorrow, in an effort to keep inflation in check.

The ECB has put the onus firmly on eurozone governments to solve the bloc’s debt crisis, dashing expectations it could take near-term action despite saying the currency area’s economy was under increasing threat.

Just as the news coming from Athens augured a little better for the future of the eurozone, the word from Madrid plunged the future of the embattled currency back into doubt.

The burden other eurozone states could bear gives them a powerful incentive to keep Greece in the currency club, writes Paul Carrel

Hopes of a quick fix for Greece were dashed last night as a eurogroup finance ministers’ meeting due to be held today was cancelled.

GERMANY may be on the brink of recession after the sovereign debt crisis caused the economy to contract in the final quarter of 2011.

PRIME Minister George Papandreou’s call for a referendum on the latest Greek bailout plan has blown a potentially fatal hole in the eurozone’s strategy to overcome its sovereign debt crisis.

AN interest rate cut could be on the cards for early next year resulting in lower mortgage repayments for many homeowners.

THE European Central Bank will probably resist growing calls for it to slash interest rates next week, although a stalled eurozone economy will force the bank to cut them early next year, a Reuters poll showed.

HEINEKEN sent a shiver through Europe’s brewing industry yesterday with a warning that weak consumer sentiment and a damp summer would wipe out profit growth this year.

HOMEOWNERS could be hit with increased mortgage costs today when the European Central Bank (ECB) announces if there will be any changes to interest rates.

A RANGE of nicotine products aimed at people seeking a “safer” alternative to cigarettes are to be developed by an international tobacco group.

VODAFONE has seen its Irish customer base dip 5% to 2.14 million in the year to the end of March but has managed to sell 40,000 iPhones in just two weeks.