'The Biggest Pressure to Act Falls on the Europeans'

Europe had feared a "Black Monday" on the stock markets following Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade the US's credit rating. But the markets defied doomsday predictions following statements by the ECB, the G-7 and German and French leaders Merkel and Sarkozy.

France and Germany are confident that the "ECB analysis will provide the appropriate basis for secondary market interventions as it will help determine the case when financial stability of the euro zone as a whole is at risk." The leaders said it was important that parliamentary approval in both countries "be obtained swiftly by the end of September."

Although most major Asian and US markets were down on Monday, markets in Europe appeared to have brushed off the weekend move by the ECB, with some key indices showing slight increases despite the downgrading of the US credit rating, which many feared would have global economic consequences. Frankfurt's DAX was up by 0.4 percent, London's FTSE 100 up by 0.6 percent, Paris' CAC-40 Index up by 1.5 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 was up by 0.6 percent. Meanwhile, in Spain, the IBEX-35 was up by 2.6 percent and Italy's FTSE-MIB up by 3 percent.

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