Demands for Bond-Buying Agreement Roil European Summit

European Union leaders struggled to meet demands by Spain and Italy for relief from rising borrowing costs, threatening to derail a 120 billion-euro ($149 billion) pledge to boost economic growth.

Leaders from the 17 euro nations stayed on to debate the crisis-fighting plan early this morning after all 27 nations informally signed off on the growth strategy. Italy is withholding its final endorsement of the initiative as it pushes for collective action at an EU summit in Brussels to push down its bond yields, said two Italian officials who spoke on the condition that they not be named.