Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
DJIA	15,256.40	-38.07	-0.25%
S&P 500	1,641.80	-8.71	-0.53%
Nasdaq	3,446.41	-13.01	-0.38%

Ticker

Volume

Price

Price Delta

DJIA

15,256.40

-38.07

-0.25%

S&P 500

1,641.80

-8.71

-0.53%

Nasdaq

3,446.41

-13.01

-0.38%

Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
STOXX 50	2,763.89	-12.89	-0.46%
FTSE 100	6,653.92	-42.87	-0.64%
DAX	8,309.98	-42.00	-0.50%

Ticker

Volume

Price

Price Delta

STOXX 50

2,763.89

-12.89

-0.46%

FTSE 100

6,653.92

-42.87

-0.64%

DAX

8,309.98

-42.00

-0.50%

Ticker	Volume	Price	Price Delta
Nikkei	14,612.50	+128.47	0.89%
Hang Seng	22,618.70	-51.01	-0.23%
S&P/ASX 200	4,983.50	-78.95	-1.56%

Ticker

Volume

Price

Price Delta

Nikkei

14,612.50

+128.47

0.89%

Hang Seng

22,618.70

-51.01

-0.23%

S&P/ASX 200

4,983.50

-78.95

-1.56%

Merkel Ally Seehofer Rejects Tax Hikes in Sueddeutsche Zeitung Interview

By Rainer Buergin - 2010-05-31T06:50:08Z

Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer said his Christian Social Union, one of three parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition, will block any attempt to raise taxes to rein in Germany’s budget deficit, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported.

The CSU, which is the Bavarian sister party to Merkel’s Christian Democrats, rejects proposals calling for an increase of the discounted value-added tax rate on items such as food, Seehofer told the newspaper. The party also opposes raising the VAT rate and suggestions to lift the income tax rate to help cut spending by around 10 billion euros ($12.3 billion) per year, he said, according to the newspaper.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net

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