Fearful European Bankers See Little To Be Thankful For

n Thanksgiving Thursday, people working in Europe’s financial sector are struggling to find much to be thankful for.  A failed German bond auction has finally brought home to Europeans the realization that nowhere is safe.

France pressed Germany on Thursday to let the European Central Bank act decisively to halt a stampede out of euro zone government bond markets that has raised doubts about the survival of the single currency.

Italy’s 10-year government bond yield edged above 7% again on Thursday, highlighting worries about the third-largest euro-zone economy’s ability to meet its funding needs.

Rating agency Fitch downgraded Portugal’s rating to junk status on Thursday, citing large fiscal imbalances, high debts and the risks to its EU-mandated austerity program from a worsening economic outlook.

Franco-Belgian bank Dexia (DEXI.BR) is accessing emergency liquidity facilities in Belgium, France, Spain and Italy, a banking source said on Thursday, as analysts described its liquidity situation as “very dramatic.”

Growth in China’s factory output is likely to fall slightly to 12-13 percent in 2012 due to weakening global demand, the industry ministry said on Thursday, but that level probably still implies a comfortable GDP growth rate of 8-9 percent next year.

Three executives of Japan’s Olympus Corp resigned on Thursday ahead of a boardroom showdown with ousted CEO Michael Woodford, as the British whistleblower said he would not be surprised if “some criminality” were involved in the scandal engulfing the once-venerable firm.