In Europe, there was more progress toward strengthening a financial rescue fund aimed at shoring up the region's banks. Slovakia's parliament approved a measure that would release large amounts of money to European banks and governments before a full-blown crisis sets in. Slovakia had blocked the bill Tuesday, becoming the only one of the 17 countries that use the euro to do so. Wall Street has been fearful for months that one of Europe's shakier economies could collapse. If countries like Greece, Spain and Italy can't repay their debts, global banks that own those countries' debt would be at risk. That could make banks even more leery of lending to each other and to businesses. If that escalates enough, it could cause another international financial crisis similar to what happened in late 2008. Markets rallied over the last week as officials in Europe seemed like they were making progress toward shoring up European banks. In addition to the stronger bailout package, European Commission leaders had said they would require banks to hold more capital to protect them against losses. But without specifics on how those reforms will be accomplished, traders are getting concerned that the plans will deteriorate.
