Bernard Hickey details the key news overnight in 90 seconds at 9 am in association with Bank of New Zealand, including news that Ireland has announced a new austerity budget aimed at satisfying bond investors, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union after its bailout.
The Irish government aims to cut spending 20% and introduce new taxes to raise 1.9 billion euros as it tries to reduce its budget deficit from 12% of GDP to 3% of GDP within 4 years.
However, it wasn't enough to stop Standard and Poor's from downgrading Ireland's sovereign credit rating by two notches to a single A and warning that more cuts may follow if Ireland's plans falter or its deficit does not improve as forecast.
Meanwhile, the European financial crisis rumbled on to Spain, where an auction of government-backed bonds had to be delayed because turmoil in bond markets.
The spread between Spanish government bonds and German bonds widened to a record high as nervousness grows about the potential for contagion and threats to the euro more generally.
Meanwhile, the Dow rose overnight after jobless claims fell 34,000 to 407,000 in the last week, which was better than expected, suggesting the world's largest economy may be recovering.
Finally, our thoughts at Interest.co.nz go out to the families, friends and colleagues of the 29 miners who died in the Pike River Coal Mine.
We also pay tribute to CEO Peter Whittall, who fronted throughout the last week to talk to the families and the media with great dignity and detail under great pressure.
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