Eurozone crisis live: Euro slides as Spanish fears grow Debt crisis fears mean it could be another nervy day in the City. Photograph: Alex Beaton / Alamy/Alamy 8.22am: Asian stock markets were bruised by Europe's woes today. Heavy selling in Japan drove the Nikkei down by 1.7%, or 167 points, to 9471. The selloff was led by exporters such as TDK and Nikon (for whom Europe is a key market) and banks. The rise in Spanish bond yields last week has alarmed traders. Fumiyuki Nakanishi, general manager of investment and research at SMBC Friend Securities, told Reuters that: Even after the European Central Bank's liquidity operation earlier this year, the yields of Spain's government bonds are continuing to rise, which reflects investor doubts over its finances and this concern came to the fore last week. European markets are calm this morning, though. Here's an early round-up of the main indices: UK FTSE 100: up 18 points at 5669, + 0.35% German DAX: down 28 points at 6555, - 0.4% French CAC: down 0.5 points at 3188, + 0.02% Spanish IBEX: up 43 points at 7294, + 0.63% Italian FTSE MIB: up 50 points at 14408, + 0.35% 8.05am: The euro has fallen against most major currencies this morning, as eurozone debt fears loom over the foreign exchange markets. Sterling rose to €1.2182, its highest level since September 2010. That means one euro is worth 82.09p. Against the dollar, the euro slipped below the $1.30 mark for the first time since mid-February, and also hit a two month low against the yen. And while the euro slides, Spanish bonds are also being hit. The yield (effectively the interest rate) on the 10-year Spanish bond has jumped over the 6% mark this morning, to 6.09% at pixel time. Italian bond yields have also risen, with the 10-year yield nudging 5.62%. German bonds, through, are in demand, driving down the yield on the 10-year bund to a new record low of just 1.628%. These are all signs that the crisis is heating up again. As Brenda Kelly, senior market strategist at CMC Markets, comments: The pressure on its bond yields and over-dependence on ECB funding is adding to the mounting evidence that Spain will in fact need a bailout. This has reignited the fears that should this occur, that the Euro zone will be courting disaster with what is deemed by the markets an insufficient firewall, particularly if Italy follows suit. 7.53am: It's a pretty quiet agenda today. We get the latest eurozone trade data this morning, and the details of the European Central Bank's bond purchases this afternoon. US retail sales data could move the markets this afternoon: Eurozone trade balance for February: 10am BST / 11am CET • US advance retail sales for March: 1.30pm BST / 8.30am EST • ECB announces bond purchases for last week: 2.30pm BST / 3.30pm CET In the bond markets, France and the Netherlands are holding debt sales this morning. 7.45am: Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the eurozone financial crisis. It's an edgy Monday morning, as fears over Spain's financial position grow. Spanish and Italian bond yields will be closely watched today, for signs that investors are driving up borrowing costs again. The euro has already come under pressure - hitting a 19-month low against the pound (of which more shortly). Meanwhile, the crisis continues to dominate France's presidential race. Nicolas Sarkozy declared yesterday that (if re-elected) he would push the European Central Bank to do more to support economic growth. François Hollande, though, continues to lead the polling.