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• Spain beset by bank crisis, recession, bond pressure
  

  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's borrowing costs shot up at a bond auction on Thursday, after economic data confirmed the country is back in recession and reports of an outflow of deposits from nationalized Bankia hammered its share price. The Spanish Treasury had to pay around 5 percent to attract buyers of three- and four-year bonds. The longer-dated paper sold with a yield of 5.106 percent, way above the 3.374 percent the last time it was auctioned. "This ... ...

  
  
  
  
• No deposit flight at Bankia: Spain government official
  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Economy Secretary said on Thursday there had not been an exit of deposit funds from troubled bank Bankia. "It's not true that there is an exit of deposits at this moment from Bankia," said Economy Secretary Fernando Jimenez Latorre. El Mundo newspaper earlier reported that Bankia had lost over 1 billion euros ($1.27 billion) in deposits, around 1 percent of retail and corporate accounts, over the past week. ($1 = 0.7849 euros) (Reporting By Paul Day, Editing by Sonya Dowsett)
  
  
• High funding costs threaten Spain's robust exports
  MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's small and medium-sized exporters are struggling to compete with European rivals due to high borrowing costs, as fallout from the country's banking crisis hurts one of the few bright spots in a contracting economy. From ceramic tile makers to chemicals producers and conveyor belt manufacturers, they say credit is too expensive or simply unavailable, even though exporters appear at first sight to be healthy. Since the crisis year of 2008, Spanish exports have grown faster than those of any other euro zone country except Estonia, according to banking group BBVA. ...
  
  
• U.S. economy still faces "very tough challenges": Geithner
  

  BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Europe's debt crisis, higher oil prices and the year-end budget cuts and tax increases still remain risks to the U.S. economy, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday. "We still live in a dangerous and uncertain world, with Europe confronting a severe and protracted crisis," Geithner said in remarks prepared for the Greater Baltimore Committee group of regional businesses and non-profit organizations. But although Geithner said the United States was facing "very tough challenges," he said they were manageable. ...

  
  
  
  
• Zimbabwe sees lower growth, higher inflation in 2012
  

  HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's may cut its economic growth projections for this year, while inflation forecasts could be higher than previously expected, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Thursday. Since 2009, the southern African country has been recovering from a decade of decline, but the economy remains fragile with coalition government partners President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai bickering over policy. Last year Biti projected the economy was expected to grow by 9.4 percent in 2012, driven by strong performances in mining and agriculture. ...

  
  
  
  
• Cameron tells Europe to quell the turmoil
  

  MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron urged Europe's rulers on Thursday to do more to quell the euro zone debt crisis and raised the prospect of a Greek default to argue he must stick to his unpopular attempt to cut spending and reduce debt at home. Warning that the survival of the euro was now in question, Cameron showed growing alarm and frustration that the crisis was spinning out of control, threatening Britain's $2.5 trillion economy and his own electoral prospects in 2015. ...

  
  
  
  
• Myanmar hopes for U.S. sanctions move to boost economy
  

  NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - A further lifting of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar, which could come during a visit by officials to Washington this week, would be crucial to opening its long-isolated economy, a senior Myanmar government official said. Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin meets U.S. officials on Thursday, stoking expectation the United States might announce a further lifting or suspension of sanctions, including investment restrictions, on the country that is also known as Burma. It is the first official visit by a Myanmar minister to the United States in decades. ...

  
  
  
  
• Italy boosts security, raps attacks on tax officials
  ROME (Reuters) - Italy acted on Thursday to step up security against a resurgence of politically inspired violence driven by its economic crisis and Prime Minister Mario Monti voiced "unconditional support" to tax officials who have come under repeated attack. The measures underscore the growing attention Italian authorities are paying to the threat of violence, either from individuals struggling to make ends meet or from radical groups seeking to exploit a spreading mood of discontent. ...
  
  
• Greek worries push European markets down further
  Fears that Greece might leave the euro currency union, with uncertain consequences for the rest of Europe, pushed the continent's markets down again on Thursday, though Asian stocks eked out gains thanks to good economic growth figures out of Japan.
  
  
• Bankia customers pull out over 1 billion euros: report
  MADRID (Reuters) - Customers at nationalized Spanish bank Bankia SA have taken out more than 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) over the past week in a sign of fast-fading confidence in the lender, a newspaper reported on Thursday. Newly appointed Chairman Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri informed a board meeting on Wednesday about the exit of funds from the bank, El Mundo said, citing information from the board meeting it had seen. Bankia, the Bank of Spain and the economy ministry declined to comment on the report. ...
  
  
• Euro zone fears pressure shares, euro steadies
  LONDON (Reuters) - The euro hovered near four-month lows and European shares extended their losing streak on Thursday, as investors avoided riskier assets due to the deepening turmoil in Greece and fears of contagion spreading to other stressed euro zone economies. News that some Greek banks face emergency funding needs dealt a further blow to risk sentiment, already beaten down by worries about slower economic growth in China, a fragile U.S. jobs market and a shock trading loss at JPMorgan Chase. ...
  
  
• Global trade well below pre-crisis trend: survey
  LONDON (Reuters) - Global trade growth will slow this year and volumes are unlikely to regain their pre-crisis trend for at least another four years, according to a survey released on Thursday. The International Chamber of Commerce said it expected trade, the life blood of the global economy, to expand by 5.2 percent this year and by 7.2 percent in 2013. Growth for all of 2011 was 6.6 percent, driven by emerging markets, but slowed down towards the end of the year. Euro zone export volumes fell 5.9 percent in 2011. ...
  
  
• Copper rebounds from four-month lows, Greek worries caps gains
  LONDON (Reuters) - Copper rebounded on Thursday following hefty losses in the previous session that dragged prices to four-month lows, but gains were fragile as worries about the deepening political crisis in Greece kept investors cautious. The metal used in power and construction snapped four sessions of falls and was on course for its biggest daily rise in three weeks, but worries surrounding the euro zone debt crisis, a slowdown in top consumer China and the fragile state of the U.S. economy prevented further gains. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 0. ...
  
  
• Philippines seeks new markets amid sea dispute with China
  MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines needs to develop new overseas markets so that a maritime standoff with China, which has thrown relations into turmoil, does not take a toll on tourism and fruit exports, a senior official said on Thursday. China has tightened quality controls on Philippine fruit and cut the number of tourist visits to the Philippines, moves which will likely have a limited impact on the economy, Arsenio Balisacan, the new economic planning secretary, told reporters. ...
  
  
• France says won't ratify unchanged euro pact
  PARIS (Reuters) - France will not ratify the European pact on fiscal discipline unless it is amended to include ambitious commitments to promote economic growth, the country's new finance minister, Pierre Moscovici, said on Thursday. "What we've said is the treaty will not be ratified as it stands," Moscovici told BFM TV. "We're firm on this." Moscovici, part of a new left-leaning government formed after the swearing-in of Francois Hollande as France's first Socialist president in 17 years this week, took over from his conservative predecessor Francois Baroin on Thursday. ...
  
  
• Myanmar hopes for U.S. sanctions move to boost economy
  NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - A further lifting of U.S. sanctions on Myanmar, which could come during a visit by officials to Washington this week, would be crucial to opening its long-isolated economy, a senior Myanmar government official said. Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin meets U.S. officials on Thursday, stoking expectation the United States might announce a further lifting or suspension of sanctions, including investment restrictions, on the country that is also known as Burma. It is the first official visit by a Myanmar minister to the United States in decades. ...
  
  
• Growth figures show Japan on recovery track
  

  Japan's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 1.0 percent in the three months to March, official figures showed Thursday, as rising domestic demand and a boost in exports kept it on the recovery path.

  
  
  
  
• Copper snaps 4-day fall; Greece crisis weighs
  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - London copper rose more than 1 percent on Thursday, snapping a four-session sell-off that sank prices to four-month lows, but worries about the future of Greece as its political crisis deepens kept sentiment in check. Copper prices were on course for their biggest daily rise in three weeks, but gains were capped by the contagion potential of a euro zone without Greece, a slowdown in top copper consumer China and the fragile state of the U.S. economy. ...
  
  
• Japanese consumers lead economic rebound in first quarter
  

  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy bounced back in the first quarter from a year-end lull, powering ahead of other major industrial nations thanks to rebuilding of the tsunami-battered northeast, solid private spending and some improvement in exports. The world's third-largest economy grew 1.0 percent in the January-March quarter, just above a median forecast of 0.9 percent. A 0.2 percent contraction in the economy reported for the final three months of 2011 was revised up to flat in the government data released on Thursday. ...

  
  
  
  
• Gold up 1 pct, comes off 4-1/2 month low; Greece weighs
  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold rose about 1 percent on Thursday as bargain hunters resurfaced after prices tumbled to another 4-1/2 month low in the previous session and the euro rebounded, but gains could be limited by fears of a deepening debt crisis in Greece. Investors have unwound their bullish bets in gold, cashing in the metal to cover for losses in other markets, after the turmoil in Europe raised the spectre of a recession that threatens to hurt the global economy. Spot gold added $12.23 an ounce to $1,550.53 by 0618 GMT, after rising to a high of $1,553. ...
  
  
• Gold up 1 pct, comes off 4-1/2 month low; Greece weighs
  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold rose about 1 percent on Thursday as bargain hunters resurfaced after prices tumbled to another 4-1/2 month low in the previous session and the euro rebounded, but gains could be limited by fears of a deepening debt crisis in Greece. Investors have unwound their bullish bets in gold, cashing in the metal to cover for losses in other markets, after the turmoil in Europe raised the spectre of a recession that threatens to hurt the global economy. Spot gold added $12.23 an ounce to $1,550.53 by 0618 GMT, after rising to a high of $1,553. ...
  
  
• S.Africa's Tsogo Sun FY profit up 12 pct
  JOHANNESBURG, May 17 - Africa's biggest hotels and casino operator Tsogo Sun Holdings reported a 12 percent in full year profit as low interest rates and higher wages boost demand for leisure spending. Tsogo, 40 percent-owned by brewer SABMiller, said adjusted headline earnings per share totalled 121.5 cents in the year to end March compared with 108.5 cents. Consumer are warily spending again in Africa's biggest economy thanks to decades-low interest rates and above-inflation wage settlements Tsogo said it had enough cash to pursue its growth strategy. ...
  
  
• Japan's economy grows 4.1 percent amid recovery
  

  Japan's economy grew an at annual rate of 4.1 percent in the first quarter amid a gradual recovery from last year's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

  
  
  
  
• Singapore keeps growth forecast amid eurozone woes
  

  Singapore on Thursday stuck to its economic growth projections of 1.0-3.0 percent for 2012 but warned there was a chance of a "disorderly sovereign debt default" in the eurozone that could hit exports.

  
  
  
  
• Lower oil prices ease load on consumers and Obama
  

  What only weeks ago was seen as a serious threat to the economic recovery could now turn into a stimulus everyone can love.