French Bank Links to Euro Crisis Add Sovereign Worry, IMF Says

French banks’ exposure to Europe’s sovereign debt crisis has heightened concern about France’s own top-notch AAA credit rating, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Moody’s Investors Service said today in a separate statement that it may cut the credit ratings of BNP Paribas SA, France’s biggest bank, and local rivals Societe Generale SA and Credit Agricole SA because of their investments in Greece.

US Money-Market Funds Exposed To Euro Crisis Via Bank Paper

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- U.S. money-market funds' significant exposure to European banks underscores the threat that the risk of a Greek sovereign default poses to global financial markets.

As of February, U.S. money-market funds' holdings of short-term securities sold by European banks--including commercial paper, asset-backed securities and certificates of deposit--stood at 44.3% of their total assets, according to a recent research report from Fitch. The ratings agency said it will release updated data in several weeks.

ECB signals eurozone interest rates are set to rise

Earlier on Thursday, the ECB kept rates unchanged for the second month in a row, after increasing them in April for the first time in almost two years.

The central bank wants to raise rates again in July to curb inflation in some of the eurozone's 17 member states.

But it has to balance that against the need to leave rates low to boost growth in nations such as Greece and Portugal.

Germany at odds with ECB over Greece

In an open letter to European and international authorities, finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said: "Any additional financial support for Greece has to involve a fair burden sharing between taxpayers and private investors."

He warned that if Greee does not get more funding before mid-July, "we face real risk of the first unorderly default within the eurozone".

Eurozone consumers keep shopping despite debt crisis

Retail sales in the 17 countries that use the euro rose more than expected in April, despite the debt crisis and an interest rate rise.

Retail sales rose 0.9% in April, compared with the previous month, the statistics office Eurostat said.

The increase was much bigger than had been expected, and made up for March's 0.9% decline.