their crack downon opposition protesters has been going on for nearly five months. the investors know the queasy feeling again as the markets turn down after a rally that was all too brief. the numbers in asia aren't too impressive either making the european stock markets a lonely bright spot. of course, we'll bring you full coverage on "world business today." that's coming up next. two attacks occurred in pakistan on thursday. a police truck passed by killing five people, including four officers. minutes later police say a teenage suicide bomber blew herself up at a police check pointd killing a passerby and woulding three others. those are the top storying. i'm monita rajpal from cnn london. "world business today" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com a very good morning to you from cnn london. i'm nina dos santos. >> good afternoon from cnn hong kong, i'm andruw stevens, you're watching "world business today." here are our top stories this thursday, august 11th traders have little to smile about but the futures do paint a more positive picture as the stock market's wild ride continues. we'll be asking about the damage that has been done to england. and a way to show dirty laund laundry. how they could protect your ipad. i think we all need a silly story like that to lighten the mood at the moment because volatility and wild swings are continues to stalk stock markets across the world today. investors could be given a collective groan of disappointn't after wednesday's dismal day ol' wall street and fluctuations across asia and europe. it comes after a short-lived relief rally if you remember on tuesday and that gave some investors some hope that the markets could actually be bottoming out but there's precious little certainty about just how much further they could fall from here. let's take a look at the markets. nina,s it's just so hard to get a read on these markets at the moment. high-frequently trading and speculation. it makes it impossible to get a clear picture of what's happening. >> it does, indeed, andrew. i was hanging around the hedge fund manager a few days ago. he said for every one trade done by a human being, there are being done by ten computers. stock markets here in europe have been open now. let's look at how they're standing at the moment. yesterday they fell 2% for many, 3% for some. as you can see, they're regaining some of the lost territory. in particular the cac 40 is up by 2%. a company that lost 15% of its value in terms of its stock market value just yesterday is regaining its value up to the tune of 6% after saying that despite speculation there is absolutely nothing wrong with this company's finances. they are sound. now, onto the currency markets, the euro has been gaining about three-quarters of a percent. the pound is also up. almost half a per end higher. the japanese yen is up higher as well. up about one-third of a percent. trading at 76.57. andrew? volatility, front and center. they're getting some support from the u.s. the markets all up by around 1% at the moment and they are increasingly important numbers to watch. let's go to ramy imocencio who's been looking at the market action here. ramy, you've been saying up, down, up, down, volatility plus. >> right now it's not bad for the readers of markets as it could have been yesterday. still the nikkei here, it is nearing its lows, closing five months. it closed down about 0.6%. financials led the fall, japan's largest bake. also the yen is again nearing its post-war high trading at 76.57 as nina mentioned. that hurts exporters. honda and nissan fell about 3.5% each. the hang seng fell down about 1%. banks again, here the same story. they fell 3.5%. and seoul -- and seoul actually eeked out a gain about 0.6 here. the bank of korea actually decided to keep its benchmark interest rate ready at 3.5%. that stability is what investors want to hear. also the asx 200 opened down, rose, then it ended back. miners tinto and rnc were down. the big four banks lent support the other way. they closed up about 1.5%. i also want to take you to the chinese mainland. the shanghai composite. that actually ended higher by 1.25% rallying in one and a quarter hours. i hope the central banks keep rates steady which is helping to calm the markets there. >> ramy, breaking through yet another barrier. what's the latest? >> yeah. sort of getting tired of this over and over, but the gold did touch a new intraday high today, past the $1,800 mark. it's trading right here though at about $1,785. but looking back, it was right here on monday that it hit 1,700, breaking that barrier. that means in just the past week it's gained about 6% in value right here. now, who's pushing the price higher? the gold council says it's bans here. interestingly, adjustment for inflation, gold actually hit its true peak back in 1980. back then it cost only 825.50 dollars. but in today's money this is how much it actually costs. $2,261.33. so we're still about $420 off of that mark, but i have to say for now. >> yeah, absolutely, ramy. i think morgan stanley was saying that $2,500 gold is a distinct possibility. obviously it all depends on whether policy makers can get their act together and try to sort out the u.s. debt crisis, not to mention the u.s. economy. ramy, as always, thanks for that. the stock markets clear cut for a moment around here and seem to be about to do the same thing in europe. same for oil. there's been a big drop in crude inventories. down by more than 2% on wednesday. as you say, they're making up some of that lost ground today. apparently crude trading at $84.05. that's up $1.16 a barrel on the nigh next market. nina. as to what happened on wall street on wednesday, the brief reprieve we saw for investors on thursday, once again they began to drop. with the dow jones industrial average rounding out 520 points. look at these kind of numbers. the dow was off by 4.6% by the close. as you can see, the s&p and the nasdaq for their part weren't far behind either. let's take a look at how things are in term os testify premarket action. right now the market looks set for a healthier open. as you can see, these are the futures for the futures market. nasdaq market pushing up higher at 1.3% in trading. andrew. okay. that 'twas mildly encouraging numbers there, certainly seeing things moving in the right direction, eve though we perhaps didn't see them from a week ago. joining us now from laund for a look at where we go from next is cbc mark's european analyst michael houston. there's been so much volatility and speculation. what's your take on the french economy, on its strength, on bank stocks, how we should as investors be playing the french story at the moment. >> well, obviously there is a lot of concern about france and a lot of it has to do with the aaa trading. we saw in the uk in the u.s. can get downgraded, it could happen to the other countries. we've seen the focus turn to france, to germany, and obviously we've seen the focus turn to the uk. what it really ties into is not only the high debt levels but also the exposure of the fwren. banking sector to peripheral europe, and their debt problems there. and there is a lot of concern about french bank exposure. there is certainly a lot more scrutiny with respect to the aaa rating and the rumors that were abounding in the market yesterday really do not help sentiment with it being already very gray now. >> i mean this is a problem, isn't it. like anything, one of the british newspapers had to put a big retraction it was saying over the weekend about the french banks, stock market in particular. can you get a clear picture of the picture of the french bank at the moment, someone like yourself, or is it pretty much guesswork at the moment? >> i think it pretty much is guesswork in terms of the outlook and the french economy. you've got to factor that in. that will mean that france's debt burden will go up because they'll have to tribet to that. now, they're talking about increasing the efforts by about 2 trillion euros to make it viable. but obviously france is going to have to contribute toward that that means it will have to take much more austerity measures. if it can't do that, then the burden then falls on germany and as such because investors are nervous about that and the uncertainty in europe, they're staying clear of the next domino. it's moved from italy. now it's on to france which is obviously what president sar koci is looking to make really severe deficit reductions. >> i just want to ask you your view on the political will in europe at the moment. everybody seems to be uk taing about the lack of leadership on on both sides of the atlantic. do you have hopes that these generations we're seeing in the markets, the huge selloff, is going to force policy makers to actually come up with a rational code here and strategy for dealing with the euro-zone crisis or are we looking at piecemeal stuff or nothing at all? >> i think we're looking at more piecemeal stuff. i think it's been fragmented at best. it boils down to one thing, andrew. and that one thing is germany's political will to step up to the plate and backstop europe. generally germany is the only country in the surface to nip the problem in the butt. the ma jorlt are not in favor of it. i think if this kobltss to spiral out of control we could well see the euro break up. i think it's as serious as that. >> wow. okay. we'll have to leave it on that somewhat negative note. thanks so much for joining us. >> sorry about that. >> yeah, well, i mean, you know, you have to call it like it is. >> i'm afraid so. well, thanks very much then, michael. >> thanks. >> nina, pretty grim stuff, nina. >> yeah, mind you we do enjoy a strong opinion here on the show, don't we, aen drew. let's look at the problems that france is currently facing and why they're so worried. france currently enjoyed a top-notch aaa credit rating from the three credit rating agencies like standard & poor's, moody's and fitch. other places include united kingdom, germany, and switszerland and the u.s. canada is aaa. of course, the united states lost its top score from one of the ratings agencies. nevertheless ratings agencies fitch caution that among this group, of the aaa countries, france is the weakest. let eeks look at why. they worry that france has high debts into the last recession in 2008, 2009 with such high debts that amount to no less than 82% of the gdp's country last year. when you look at the deficit it becomes clear. it stands at a lofty 82ch. on friday investors will watching france with a very keen eye. this is because the country's second quarter growth figures have yet to come out. let me show you where growth was. it was at 9.9%. the issue is it may well fall to 9.2%. and, andrew, if that is the case and falls to 9.1%, it prevejtss france from reining in its deficit by just the year 2013. if growth doesn't stack up, it's going to be difficult some say for france to balance its debts just as other euro-zone nations are having the same problem. >> absolutely. the cold front and austerity measures, more austerity, more austerity. so you've just got to wonder, this is not squaring up, is it? such a difficult time for the policy maker at the moment. anyway, we're going to be talking much more about that during the show. you're watching "world business today." we're going to take a short break and from the uncertainty of the markets to bedlam in the streets, when we come back, we'll be taking a look at the true cost of the riots in the united kingdom. stay with us. then my eye doctor told me about acuvue® oasys for astigmatism. he said it's the only lens of its kind designed to realign naturally with every blink so now, i'm seeing more clearly. [ male announcer ] learn more at acuvue.com. who need so now, i'm seeing more clearly. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. announcer: when life's this hard, it's no wonder 7,000 students drop out every school day. visit boostup.org and help kids in your community stay in school. welcome back. you're watching "world business today" on cnn. let's take a look at the other top business stories from the financial meltdown at the moment or certainly the financial gyrations starting with news corp. chase mourdocou. he says if somebody happens to him there's someone to take over. the succession chances can of murdoch's son james has been damaged by the phone-hacking scandal. speaking of that british police have made another arrest, their 12. some are reporting it. he's another former editor of the now closed murdoch tabloid ""news of the world."" some are also accuse odd f bribing the police and a positive outlook from cisco sent its stock up by nearly 10% in after-hours trading in new york on wednesday. cn john chambers said the cost-cutting initiatives obtained big dividends. earnings per share excluding one-time charges beat analysts' forecasts by two cents. >> well here in london and across the rest of the united kingdom police may have restored order but the calm comes after four costly days worth of writing. recovering from the financial damage will of okay take time and money and lots of both. the center for retail research says that retailers lost more than $36 million in sales, $28 million was lost just in looted goods alone, and they face more than $70 million in repair bills. the human toll, four people are dead, including three men trying to protect their businesses from looters. police say that they arrested at least 1,300 people across the uk in connection to the riots. the chaos was brought under control after the government employed an army of 16,000 police to discuss the riots. parliament will be holding a special session today called by the prime minister david cameron. many members may not take kindly to cameron's plans to slash the police budget. we take a report on this in the face of violence on the streets. >> reporter: pauline pearce became the voice of london when she faced down looters with this defiant speech that went viral on youtube to thousands of hits. >> get it real, black people. get it real. >> reporter: london is fighting back as this video from the guardian knapp shows, the turkish community managed to scare off dozens of would-be looters before the police showed up in their neighborhood. young people stood outside their temple and in the northern city angry residents chased after any suspected looter. riots faced off not with looters but with local residents. >> my offices need to face off with rioters and residents, not the vigilantes. th not people who threaten violence on anyone coming into their community. >> reporter: londoners may want to get rid of them but police warn them to not go vigilante. police say locals can help by going online. they set up a flickr page. that has inspired nettisons to set up their own packages like cash a lotter and using hash tags to out those who have admitted to looting. others are using social media to get the city back on its feet. riot clean-up is organizing neighbors and equipping them with brooms in the hope that solidarity will speed recovery and keep the violence at bay. >> we're going to be talking to grimm haels. we'll talk how it could be hurting rioter, especially with olympics coming next year. that's still to come on the show. >> absolutely. but before that, your business traveler's forecast with jen delgado is still ahead squoo and talk about dirty laundry, we'll tell you how trousers once worn by the ponzi scammer bernie madoff could end up protecting your ipod. we couldn't make it up. and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. your ipod. coffee doesn't have vitamins... unless you want it to. new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™. a few hours ago. you see a little bit of blue sky. welcome back to cnn in hong kong and london. you're watching "world business today." let's get you up to date with your business traveler's advisory. find out how heavy flooding in the uk and raining in europe is having its effect today. jen delgado is standing by. what do you want to go to first? i guess europe? >> we'll go to europe. but i want to point out to you. you saw the live shot in hong kong. for some areas toward the east we'll still see chances of showers popping up for parts of china, but looking at the radar once again we're dealing with wed conditions moving through central parts of england. you can see down toward parts of the southwest. you can see waves of heavier rainfall moving from the west to the east. and this means that the rain is going to be sticking around because we're tapping into that jet stream moisture and that means anywhere along this path you'll be dealing with the potential for standing water as well as flooding. this will last as we go all the way through the end of the week. it's going to affect parts of scandal navy ya in addition to the rain and clouds. of course, it's going to keep temperatures cool out there. people have been reporting that conditions have been cool for parts of austria and gentlemany. look at today. 16 for berlin. 20s for you. 30s down south. that includes parts of spain and portugal as well as greece as well. through areas including india, they're still dealing with the monsoonal moisture. keep in mind, all the rainfall, 80% comes in this three-month period and this is so essential to the economy and the farmers there. but i want to point out heavy rain has been coming down. we go to some of those images to give you an idea what it looks like. really sad when you see the kids walking through the flooded streets. the boy holding on to his parent s in a cage. this causes problems all through parts of india. find i want to take you back over. look at what i have in my hand. this is an ipad with a not so attractive case. this is one of our producers. andrew, what would you think about using bernie madoff's old clothes as an ipad protector. apparently an investor bought a bunch of his own clothes and used them to design ipad covers. you can see some are pants, different ba na ta republic, christian dior. of course, he had the best clothing around. they used these clothes, they were washed, cleaning to become ipad covers. guess what. he says it's not going to protect your ipad if you drop it. it's still going to break. so another bad investment, right? >> i wonder if you put it on will it make different calculations? jen, i've been told we're going to break. thanks, jen. you're watching "world business today." we'll be back in a moment. 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[ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. from cnn london, i'm nina dos santos. i'm andrew stevens at cn hong kong. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." well, investors may have thought that the world's stock markets had turned the corner, but the debt crisis and the euro-zone, it seems, still looms large, and, of course, the volatility continues. it was a dire day on wall street on wednesday and the mood over there actually spilled onto some of the markets in asia today. let's take a look at what's been happening on the world stock markets starting over here in europe. volatility still reigns supreme here in europe. all of the major indices as you can see. americans made some pretty substantial gains. we do have the dax up by 3%. the cac 40 rebounding quite significantly. i do want to mention one company, comerica bank coming out with its figures saying net profit fell by 93% in the last quarter. it had to write down over a billion dollars on its greek sovereign debt portfolio. it gives you an idea how it's really affecting some of these banking stocks and affecting companies in the markets as the european debt crisis continues, andrew. >> absolutely. and still waiting for a lot of clarity with the banks and just their involvement and explosion your to euro-zone debts. it will trickle out like this. it certainly doesn't help when you're looking for clarity in the markets. but you talk about volatility, nina. exactly the same here in asia as well. an unusually high volatility. let's take a look at the numbers. if you look at the end result, it looks like the end of a quiet day but they mafing a lot of gyrations. hong kong was down 2.5%. the kospi down by some 4% at some stage. this was obviouslier obviously the day. the futures began to turn positive. so, too, did the markets in asia. but mostly finishing in the red still. the nikkei down two-thirds, hong kong down by 1%. the kospi down 4%. it did close higher. that was a bit of a wild day in australia. and you just cannot say with any certainly what's going to happen with these markets tomorrow, nina. >> you certainly can't. you can't even say with any certain certainty, andrew, what's going to happen during the course of a single trading day because many have been familiar that european markets start higher and the moment things turn toward a precipitous decline. wall street for the moment might be looking to swing the pendulum the other way against futures economy, about 1% after, of course, another worldrise downward on wednesday. alison kosik was there, and she gives us this report. >> another brutal session on wall street wednesday. the down plunged 519 points closing at 10,719. the nasdaq dropped 4% and the s&p 500 fell 400. in the last six days we even seen the dow trumbull 265 points, 512 points, 630 points and 519 today. the optimism from tuesday's big rally was nowhere to be found. the investors got a chance to reexamine it yesterday about the faltering economy and one trader says the market is now trying to price in the growing chance of another recession. also feeling the volatility are the computer models that many institutional measures use to trade stocks. they're selling at different levels and that sends prices spiraling even low. er. investors are are poring into save havens like gold. they topped $1,800 an ounce for if first time. i'm confident in saying that it will continue to be volatile for a little while longer. the latest downturn started with some weak economic data and we'll get too fresh readings tomorrow with a weekly report on jobs claims and a balance. they continue with the results from retail chains kohl's and northwardstrom. i'm alison kosik with the new york stock change. china is putting its all-new steel rail construction on hold. that comes after dozens of people were killed when two high-speed trains collided last month. let's get more on this. eunice joins us live from the country's capital. eunice. >> reporter: that's right, andrew. what we see here was an accident that really wasn't just any other accident. this collision happened on what many people touted as a technological marvel, a symbol of china's economic mite. for your this project alone, china had invested and earmarked over $400 billion for the next couple of years in order to build what they expect to be -- will be the future of the network. now because of this accident people have been outraged, people have been looking at the news of these train delays as well as the breakdowns and also the widespread allegations of corruption because of this rail project and so because of that people here have been really questioning the value of this investment and really have been left wondering whether or not china's economy has been moving too fast as well. andrew? >> absolutely. just coming back to security or the safety concerns, i should say, eunice, just how safe is it to travel on these high-speed trains now? >> reporter: the government wants us to believe it's safe. there was a poll and 250,000 people were surveyed and of those 250,000 people, only 15% really trusted the train. so that tells you something right there. now obviously the authorities are trying to shore up public confidence in the rail system as well as traveling by train. they've already said they're going to be halting all new construction and they're also going to be conducting more safety inspections and slowing the speeds of a lot of these trains. trains that vn been traveling at 350 kilometers an hour are now going to be required to move at 300 kilometers an hour. trains that were at 250 are going to have to go down to 200 and 200 trains are supposed to go down to 1650. so a lot of analysts say that this move is smart, however. it's going to tame time before the public confidence is fully restored. andrew? >> not to mention national pride. thank you so much, eunice. eunice yoon joining us from beijing. nina. let's talk about some of the other technology stories this hour. deal of the day website groupon is now finding it's about time for an initial public offering. not only is the stock market depressed but its revenue grouktd is slowing. groupon's is growing. 115 million of them at the end of the quarter but those subscribers are becoming less engaged as rivals compete for their work now. facebook has designed to compete with similar services like what's up and bbm. those services deliver text services by the internets instead of through the satellite texting systems. some analysts say the new approach could threaten additional voice and texting services. apple is set to roll out its latest version of the iphone within a few months but in china a counterfeit version is already available. it's selling for $30 apiece. compare that to the $830 price tag for the real iphone 4. it's based on a leaked photo of the iphone 5. >> still days after writing and looting businesses, england is now facing hundreds of millions of dollars of repairs. one of the intangible costs. we'll assess the damage to brand england when we come back. with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. announcer: when life's this hard, it's no wonder 7,000 students drop out every school day. visit boostup.org and help kids in your community stay in school. hello. welcome back. you're watching "world business today." >> prime minister david cameron is to convey a special cabinet of parliament today. cities were calm overnight and thousands of officers were on the street for a second day. at least 1,300 people have been arrested since saturday but damage has been done to the economy. retail analysts say the riots cost businesses at least $228 million in sales, lost goods and repairs. and that figure could go, nina, even higher. >> some observers say something else was going up in flames along with the store fronts in the uk. we're joined now by graham hales. he's here to tell us how england's reputation has gotten a bit burnt to say the least. what d us this mean for branding for the rest of the world? >> it's particularly tragic if you mention the high point of brand england and the royal wedding, it's resulted in major setbacks. tourists are going to be concerned about their safety. trips have been postponed. >> and what about the olympics. that's an enormous exercise that's costing britains millions of pounds. then again we do have a number of companies that are specifically, it seems, being targeted. normally retailers such as j.d. sports, foot locker, electronics companies, flat tv screen salesmen. does that send a message about those particular brands? obviously it must be identified with items looters want. >> it's truly tricky. we're looking at demographics and what they're finding desirable and things they can take. you know, i think it's disappointing if that feels like that's going to tarnish those brands in any way, shape, is or form. this is clearly a tragedy. >> do you think it will then? >> i think it offers the opportunities that these are brands that they find particularly appealing but one would hope they would put that into a context. >> we should also talk about the role of social media unwittingly in this. black berry, instant messenger service. do you think that tarnishes some of the electronics providers like for instance blackberry, because it's their software being used to help rally the troops in some of the places. >> it's interesting that off the hacking scandal we have blackberry as being the secure form if you like, the writer's choice of communication. i don't think blackberry is looking to skplord that in any way. i don't think it grabs the images but it's an interesting dynamic into this. >> okay. graham hales joining is us and many thanks for coming only the show. andr andrew. >> nina, still ahead on "world business today," as share prices around the world dived in recent days, stock investors certainly have been hurting. but for gold bugs, the buzz on wall screen has been a boon to beat all others. we'll have more on that in just a moment. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that, with private insurance, may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. hi i'm doug harrison. we're experts at getting you the power chair or scooter you need. i didn't pay a penny out of pocket for my power chair. with help from the scooter store, medicare and my insurance covered it all. call the scooter store for free information today. from cnn london and hong kong, this is "world business today." welcome back to the show. there's been plenty for you to worry about on wall street and in the world's other stock markets as well. and investors have been selling down their equities. they fled to the safe haven of gold in large numbers. that's driven the price of gold pretty much through the roof. on wednesday it smashed through the $1,800 per ounce level but it has slipped to $1,791.35 an ounce as you can see there, nina. >> investors have become increasingly concerned that the global economic recovery could be stalling, but that record-high price has been driven more than anything else by turmoil in the stock market in recent days. the big spike we're showing you now marks the point when the selloff got into full swing and the gold began to soar in these unprecedented highs today. the price is now risen by 26.6% since the beginning of the year. >> it just shows you the sort of turmoil. our mary snow went to a road gold show in new york and spoke to buyers and sellers getting in on this modern-day gold rush. >> reporter: the rest of the world may be worried about the economy but todd tyra sees pay dirt. he buys and sells gold, setting up road shows across the country. he extended his time in new york. he knew it would cost gold prices to soar and banked on more people cashing in. >> right from germany? these two grarnld mothers are first-time sellers, so is deborah collins. >> with the price of gold we probably would melt this. >> she brought in her family jewelry. >> what prompted you to do this? >> well, i needed some money, you know. times is hard. and, you know, i had it. >> reporter: wheel people like deborah are cashing in on record gold prices, others are buying gold. >> we've seen that since the lehman brothers collapsed and the madoff scandal, that i've talked to so many people who have lost faith in paper investments and institutional integrity. >> michael is president of a gold depository which stores everything from coins to gold bars. he estimates his business has increaseded from 20 and 30% in recent weeks and not just from individual customers. >> this is something new probably in the last year or two that we've seen where corporations are investing their -- some of their retained earnings into physical precious metals. >> reporter: with gold shining in the spotlight he has lots of questions. he doesn't advise clients to buy physical gold. he instead suggests they trade in funds. he also warns against a rush to gold without a well thought out strategy. >> you can lose a lot of money investing in gold. i mean if you put all your eggs in that one basket as high as gold has appreciates in the past few months or years or so you can lose an extreme amount of money, but that's with any asset. >> reporter: and before the gold bubble burst, people like deborah collins are selling what they can just trying to get by. mary snow, cnn, new york. >> okay. we just want to bring you up to date on a story we're getting in to us here at cnn, reports of an explosion in lebanon. we're getting recent pictures in from the local broadcaster lbc. what we know at this stage is the blast happened in a predominantly christian suburb in beruit. lebanese internal security forces say at least one person has been killed. as of now, there's confusion as to what the cause of the blast was. was it actually a bomb or a gas explosion. as you can see, the pictures focusing around a car parking lot in the suburb of beruit. cnn will continue to monitor the situation. j just to repeat there's been a blast in d christian suburb in beruit. one dead at the moment. still no real clear indication of what caused that to happen. more details as we get them here at cnn. nina. >> we will, indeed. in the meantime let's go back to the stock markets in europe. moving on the back of earnings and also abated concerns about the situation, vis-a-vis, france. take a look at that. intraday highs still pushing toward the 3% mark. cac 40 up by 2.5% and the dax up by 2.74%. a number of them are on the two indices i just mentioned there. france having a very strong rebound after losing in excess of 15% at one point in yesterday's trading session. all of this is on the back of allayed concerns about france being the next euro-zone country to suffer the wrath of the debt markets. also coming up yesterday and saying its finances are strong, denying speculations in the markets that that was not the case, andrew. >> yeah, it underlines volatility in the markets, too. a quick like at how asia finished the day. big swings across the region. ended up mostly in the red. shanghai up by 1.12%. the rest down. flat in sydney. down by 1% here in hong kong. nina. >> and that's about it from this edition of "world business today." i'm nina dos santos at cnn london. >> and i'm andrew steven in hong kong. you're watching cnn. i will be back with the next edition of "world business today." hopefully we'll have the pleasure of your company then.

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