The Street Beat

So the Euro Zone has a problem with debt; you know all about it...

No other country or group of people has had as much to do with the creation and progress of European unity as have France and the French. So it is no small irony that the Republique francaise could be le talon d’Achille in Europe’s efforts to find a solution to the debt crisis.

European stocks are trading off their day's lows on Thursday, with a rise in U.S. stock futures buoying sentiment to some extent after a guideline document presented by German officials suggested that the EFSF would be able to purchase bonds from the secondary market.

The bright start by European equities has fizzled out, after Steffen Seibert, spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, suggested that markets were getting carried away with the optimism.

European stocks fell from two-month highs on Thursday, as weak trade data from China dragged down commodities and mining shares and French retailer Carrefour lowered its full-year profits forecast for the second time in three months.

The European markets shrugged off early weakness and are moderate to notably higher in afternoon trading Wednesday, after investors in the region digested news of the Slovak Parliament blocking the expansion of the European Financial Stability Facility, amid hopes of a plan for recapitalizing European financial institutions to be unveiled today. On the economic front, industrial production in the Eurozone increased unexpectedly in August. Asian markets mostly rose and the U.S. index futures are higher.

Shares remain in the doldrums ahead of today's vote in Slovakia on sanctioning the country's commitment to a beefed-up version of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

The European markets rose for the second day amid hopes that regulators would step in to stem the soverign debt crisis from worsening. Asian markets ended firmly in positive territory and the U.S. index futures are higher, ahead of the key jobs report from the U.S.