Downgrades Stirl Euro Zone Turmoil

Standard & Poor’s credit rating downgrades of nine euro zone countries will fuel attempts by European Union lawmakers to slap stricter curbs on sovereign ratings.

Global leaders and businessmen urged Europe on Monday to take fresh steps to resolve its deepening debt crisis, with a top executive of the IMF warning the continent will see a “downward spiral of collapsing confidence” if no further action is taken.

Commercial banks parked almost half a trillion euros at the European Central Bank, the highest on record, as the mix of debt crisis worries and a recent giant injection of ECB cash left banks awash with money but too scared to lend it.

Brazil’s Embraer expects to sell its Super Tucano light attack aircraft to more NATO nations after clinching an order from the United States that lifted the company into the upper echelons of global defense contractors.

The cruise ship industry faces an uphill task to restore confidence among customers spooked by spectacular images of the stricken Costa Concordia flipped on its side and could suffer a major hit to sales in a key booking period. Carnival, the owner of the cruise ship that capsized off Italy’s west coast, said it alone expected to take a hit of around $90 million from Friday’s accident just as a result of the boat being out of use for the rest of the year.

Toshiba Corp on Monday denied a newspaper report it was set to propose an equity tie-up with scandal-hit Olympus Corp.