AlQa'dah 16, 1433, Oct 2, 2012, SPA -- The euro continued to strengthen against the dollar on Tuesday on expectations that a request by Spain for a bailout is imminent, but major stock markets fell on uncertainty of when Madrid will make its request and growing uneasiness over third-quarter earnings, Reuters reported. European officials said on Monday that Spain is ready to make the request for a euro zone bailout as early as next weekend, although Germany has signaled that it should hold off. A request for a bailout is viewed as positive for financial markets because it would trigger Spanish bond buying by the European Central Bank, which would lower the country's borrowing costs. It would also remove another layer of uncertainty in the region's three-year old debt crisis. The MSCI global stock index slipped 0.1 percent to 333.08. Wall Street stocks surrendered early gains and turned negative. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 72.61 points, or 0.54 percent, to 13,442.50. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 3.31 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,441.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.22 points, or 0.07 percent, to 3,111.31. The Dow was pressured by stocks closely tied to the pace of growth, including heavy machinery maker Caterpillar Inc and plane maker Boeing Co. A major headwind for the global economy has been falling demand from Europe, which has been drifting toward recession. Weaker-than-expected results from fertilizer producer Mosaic added to worries about the third-quarter earnings season, which will kick off in earnest next week. Mosaic shares slid 3.9 percent and were the biggest percentage decliner on the S&P. The FTSEurofirst-300 index of pan-European shares fell 0.3 percent to end at 1,101.55 points, also weighed by doubts over third-quarter results and weakness in basic resources stocks. -- SPA
