Irish, Portuguese Bonds Sink on Debt Concern; Stocks Retreat

Irish notes slid, leading bonds of Europe’s most indebted nations lower, and the euro fell on concern the region’s leaders are struggling to fix the government-finance crisis. Oil rallied, while U.S. and European stocks retreated following a rebound in Japanese shares.

Irish 2-year note yields surged 62 basis points to 9.87 percent and rose as high as 10.18 percent, the most since Bloomberg began collecting the data in 2003. Yields on similar-maturity Portuguese and Greek debt climbed at least 26 basis points. The euro weakened versus 12 of 16 major peers. Oil rose 1.6 percent at $104 a barrel as unrest spread in the Middle East and northern Africa. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.4 percent at 4 p.m. and the Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.2 percent.