STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 5 April 2012

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10. European markets soft heading into Easter break

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-04-05-06-04-11

LONDON (AP) -- European stock markets failed to hold on to their early gains Thursday as investors fretted about Spain's debt problems, and reduced their potential exposure to upcoming U.S. jobs figures in the run-up to the long Easter weekend.

A disappointing set of Spanish bond auctions on Wednesday contributed to a big rout on global stock markets alongside waning expectations of another monetary stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Spain has become the latest point of concern in Europe's debt crisis as investors are concerned over the ability of the government to push through its big austerity program at a time when its economy is heading for a return to recession and unemployment is standing at around 23 percent. The yield on the country's 10-year bond pushed up a further 0.07 percentage point to 5.73 percent, a sign that investors are wary of Spain's ability to avoid suffering the same bailout fate as Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

"The eurozone crisis remains unresolved and Spain remains in the spotlight with bond yields moving higher after yesterday's disappointing bond auction," said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.