Markets fall as investors wait for Greece bailout

Stocks fell on Wednesday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 2.1 percent while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.1 percent.

Commodities also fell, with copper falling 5.6 percent and oil falling 3.8 percent.

Economic reports on Wednesday were mixed.

In the US, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft increased 1.1 percent in August after falling 0.2 percent in July. Overall durable goods orders, however, fell 0.1 percent after jumping 4.1 percent in July.

However, if economic growth has not been completely extinguished, neither has inflation.

In Germany, inflation hit a 3-year high of 2.6 percent in September, rising from 2.4 percent in August.

What most investors are interested about Germany at the moment, however, is how willing it is to bail out Greece. From Bloomberg:

German lawmakers are set to back an expansion of the euro-area rescue fund’s firepower as European officials turn to look at what next steps may be needed to stem the debt crisis.

The plan before the lower house in Berlin today would allow the fund to buy bonds of distressed states and offer emergency loans to governments, raising Germany’s guarantees to 211 billion euros ($287 billion) from 123 billion euros. The main opposition Social Democrats and Greens have said they will vote with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government, assuring passage.

But it is not just Germany that will determine the aid for Greece. Inspectors from the European Union and the IMF return to Greece on Thursday to determine whether to resume the payment of bailout money.