Fears of a nationalisation of Citigroup and Bank of America shook global markets on Friday, sending shares in the troubled banks tumbling and dragging down the entire financial sector.
It emerged that the US government is to begin its planned “stress tests” of banks’ financial health, which Wall Street executives told the Financial Times could start next week.
Gold prices broke the $1,000 a troy ounce barrier, the highest level in 11 months, as investors shunned risky assets for the relative safety of bullion amid renewed fears about the health of the global financial system.
Argentina's leftist President Cristina Kirchner proposed nationalizing the country's private pension funds in what could be seen as a grab for cash and power amid the global economic crisis.
The proposal, which triggered a steep drop on Argentina's stock market after it was leaked by union officials and reported in the Argentine press, reinforces Argentina's image as a pariah in financial circles and represents a repudiation of a system of private pensions that had been in vogue in developing countries. In 2001, Argentina announced the largest sovereign debt default in history.
Brokers work at the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange, in Buenos Aires. Argentine stocks fell by more than 11% in reaction to news that the government plans to nationalize private pension funds.
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