Spain to seek bailout

It looks like Spain is about to ask for a bailout. From Reuters:

Spain is expected to ask the euro zone for help with recapitalizing its banks this weekend, sources in Brussels and Berlin said on Friday, becoming the fourth country to seek assistance since Europe's debt crisis began.

Five senior EU and German officials said deputy finance ministers from the single currency area would hold a conference call on Saturday morning to discuss a Spanish request for aid, although no figure for the assistance has yet been fixed.

Later the Eurogroup, which consists of the euro zone's 17 finance ministers, will hold a separate call to discuss approving the request, the sources said.

Economic data in the euro area on Friday had been negative.

In Germany, exports fell 1.7 percent in April. Imports tumbled 4.8 percent, the biggest drop in two years.

The French economy is set to contract 0.1 percent in the second quarter, the Bank of France forecast on Friday. It also reported that its business sentiment indicator for the industrial sector fell to 93 in May from 94 in April.

In Italy, industrial production fell 1.9 percent in April.

It was not just eurozone data that were negative on Friday.

In the US, the trade deficit narrowed in April as exports fell 0.8 percent and imports fell 1.7 percent.

Japan saw an upward revision of first quarter economic growth to 1.2 percent from the preliminary figure of 1.0 percent.

However, the Cabinet Office's service sector sentiment index fell to 47.2 in May from 50.9 in April. The future conditions index also fell to 48.1 from 50.9.