On Wall Streets, stocks finished up. The Dow gained more than 30 points. European shares also turned positive on hopes of further measures from the European Central Bank to ease the region's debt crisis. And it was different in Asia with stocks ending the week lower. The Nikkei lost 181 points. And Aussie shares hit their lowest fort for two years yesterday. The All Ords was down 66. Gold has also plummeted. And the Aussie dollar is buying around 98, just a tab below 98 US cents.  

 

Moody's ratings agency has downgraded 8 Greek banks by 2 notches. The agency said the outlook for all the banks' long-term deposit and debt ratings was negative. Moody's cited the expected impact of the deteriorating domestic economic environment on non-performing loans and declines in the deposit basis. That's its reasoning for the downgrade. 

 

And in the latest assessment over Australia's financial system, the Reserve Bank says many households are making additional payments to reduce their mortgages faster. The financial stability review shows Australian banks are in a solid position to withstand the current turmoil.