In a whirlwind first day after winning the French presidency, Socialist Francois Hollande already has a to-do list that includes an invite to the White House, visits to the G8 and Nato summits and a Second World War ceremony with his defeated rival.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is insisting his country will not follow Ireland in seeking a bailout.

Insurance group Allianz has proposed an unchanged dividend after fourth-quarter earnings missed estimates on Greek debt writedowns and natural disaster losses.

IT HAS been another very strange week for financial markets.

Early trading in Europe has been skittish after a downgrade of France's long-term credit rating by Standard and Poor's on Friday.

It has been reported that ratings agency Standard and Poor's is poised to downgrade a number of Eurozone countries this evening.

Nick Clegg today urged critics not to exploit the eurozone crisis to foster “xenophobia, chauvinism and polarisation” as doubts were cast on political efforts to save the single currency.

THE degree of uncertainty surrounding the latest bid to resolve the problems besetting the eurozone is perhaps the most worrying aspect of a crisis that will not go away.

FRANCE will lose its AAA credit rating early next year regardless of last-ditch efforts by President Nicolas Sarkozy to resolve the eurozone crisis at an EU summit this week, a Reuters poll of economists showed.

THE pressure on EU leaders to come up with a solution to the euro crisis increased yesterday with Standard and Poor’s threatening to downgrade the eurozone’s rescue fund and all six triple-A countries.

THE ISEQ index jumped 125.33 points yesterday to close at 2,749.05.

EGYPT’S military rulers apologised for the deaths of demonstrators at the hands of police, while insisting elections will go ahead next week as planned.

New Zealand has become the latest country to have its credit rating downgraded.

DUBLIN’s ISEQ index shrugged off its negative start to the week, with a near 1.5% rebound yesterday; as European markets — in general — benefited from hopeful investors unwilling to be put off by negative soundings coming from the IMF and a credit ratings downgrade for Italy.

Fears of a double-dip recession were fuelled today as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed the UK’s growth forecast and warned the global economy is in a “dangerous new phase”.

The head of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso has said he does not expect Europe to slide into recession.

Asian stock markets jumped today following a surge on Wall Street triggered by a Federal Reserve pledge to keep interest rates super low for the next two years to help the ailing US economy.

FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan has admitted the Cabinet is “very concerned” the ongoing economic turmoil in the US could prevent an Irish and worldwide recovery, after a 24-hour market bloodbath that saw billions of euro wiped off shares.

Greece’s credit rating has been cut by two notches to CC, with a negative outlook.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor has issued a fresh warning about Greek debt despite a deal at the weekend.

London’s stock market fell to near a three-month low today as Greece’s plight again hit share prices in banks and other financial companies.

ITALIAN prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was facing defeat in his northern power base of Milan yesterday in local elections that will raise doubts over the future of his fragile centre-right coalition government.

PEOPLE who bought apartments during the property boom have been worst hit by plummeting prices, with the value of their homes now less than half what they were worth four years ago.

PULLING out of the bailout deal would deliver a “lethal injection” to the Irish economy, the Taoiseach has warned.

THE ISEQ index decreased 24.42 points to 2,903.19 yesterday.

Spain’s parliament passed an austerity budget for 2011 by a razor-thin margin, saving embattled prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero his job.

Standard and Poor's has further downgraded Ireland's credit rating from A to double-A.

BRITAIN’S economy grew twice as fast as expected in the third quarter and ratings agency Standard and Poor’s lifted the threat of a credit downgrade, a boost for a government under fire over steep spending cuts.

The London market fell into the red today in the face of deepening concerns over a European debt crisis, with the banking sector bearing the brunt of the pressure.

THE European Commission may consider that Government plans for the new Anglo Funding Bank to continue to take deposits could constitute unfair competition for other banks, as it is fully guaranteed by the state.

THE Government is expected turn to the European Central Bank for help as it looks to wind down Anglo Irish Bank over a 10 to 15-year period.

ANOTHER very difficult week for the beleaguered Irish economy, yet our Dáil remains in recess. One gets a strong sense of “Nero fiddling while Rome burns”.

WILL the banks ever learn?

THE Irish shares market rose for a second consecutive day yesterday as the National Treasury Management Agency auctioned €600 million worth of short-dated Government paper at a lower cost than earlier in August, thus confounding the recent Standard and Poor’s downgrade.

Despite the downgrading of this country’s credit rating by Standard and Poor’s this week, the National Treasury Management Agency borrowed another €600 million by selling Treasury Bills at an interest rate that was close on 0.5% lower than the rate at which it borrowed a couple of weeks earlier.

THE ISEQ index rallied late yesterday to close up 12.43 at 2,632.55. The market was in the red for the most of the session after ratings agency Standard and Poor‘s downgrade for Ireland’s debt rating.

The Government has defended its banking strategy, despite another fall in Ireland's credit rating.

Ireland's international credit rating has been downgraded again by the Standard and Poor's ratings agency.

THE gloss was swiftly wiped off the positive gains made on the stockmarkets on Monday when shares across Europe fell yesterday following more concerns about Greece’s future.

EUROZONE finance ministers and the IMF are expected to finalise a €120 billion loan package for Greece tomorrow as negotiations on the deal were ongoing in Athens.

There were fears today that more EU countries could follow Greece into a financial crisis after a global finance chief warned of economic “contagion” spreading across Europe.

US stocks tumbled yesterday and the dollar and Treasuries rose as credit-rating downgrades of Greece and Portugal fuelled concern that debt-laden nations are moving closer to default.

LIGHT trading volumes characterised the Irish market yesterday as investors stayed away. The ISEQ index ended the session down 10.53 points at 2,691.30 as the market wavered between positive and negative territory for much of the day.

THE ISEQ index closed down 65.51 points at 2,866.77. A day after Standard and Poor’s cut Ireland’s sovereign debt rating to AA, Moody’s said it is concerned about Ireland and will conclude the review of its AAA rating after a visit to Dublin in the next few weeks.