by Calculated Risk on 2/04/2010 10:03:00 AM

From the Financial Times: Sovereign debt fears rattle investors

“The latest catalyst was [Wednesday’s] bond auction in Portugal which was scaled back and which has re-ignited fears that the likes of Portugal and Greece will not be able to fund their deficits without a bail out,” said Gavan Nolan, credit analyst at Markit.
excerpted with permission

From Bloomberg: Portugal, Spain Lead Worldwide Decline in Stocks; Dollar Gains

Stocks and bonds fell in Spain, Portugal and eastern Europe on concern governments will struggle to fund their budget deficits as spending cuts in Greece trigger labor strikes. ... “The focus is shifting toward Spain and Portugal, where the deficit-reduction plans have been far less ambitious than Greece,” said Kornelius Purps, a fixed-income strategist in Munich at UniCredit Markets & Investment Banking.

And from the WSJ: Greece, Portugal Woes Intensify