amanda knox sentenced to 26 years in prison for killing her roommate. the defense claims dna evidence used to convict knox is unreliable. the prosecution says independent experts ignored other key evidence, which reports that knox said in a letter she was worried but that she was thinking of what she would do once she was back in the u.s. after more than two years in iranian prison two freed american are calling their trial on charges of spying a sham. josh fattal and shane bauer say they were hostages. fattal, bauer and fellow hiker sarah shourd were arrested in 2009 when they crossed an unmarked border with iraq. i'm zain verjee. "world business report" starts right now. good morning from cnn london. this is "world business today." the top stories this monday, september 26th. european investors are on edge after tim geithner warns the debt crisis is the most serious issue facing the global economy. in asia, investors also reached for the sell button. as european policymakers look to beef up the euro stability fund, we're live in athens. >> reporter: thanks, charles. strike action will meet members as they arrive in athens to review austerity cuts worth $38 billion. they continue to question whether this government can deliver on what it promises. we'll have full analysis and speak to a leading greek industrialist. contagion fears are stocking global stock markets after timothy geithner said europe's sovereign debt crisis is the most serious issue confronting the global economy. he made the statement at an imf meeting in washington over the weekend and reiterated the united states' interest in lending europe a hand. >> europe is facing -- and i should say before you talk about europe. you know, it's worth noting that we have a huge direct stake in europe resolving this. en just the dollar funding them but throughout imf but a huge strategic interest, too, because we don't want to see europe weakened. it's not in the interest of the united states for that to happen so we have a strong interest in helping them through this. >> investors in europe still appear wary as they keep a close eye on european policymakers after a weekend of tough criticism, like what we just heard from the united states, and also for that matter from china. european leaders are reportedly considering adding to the euro stability fund. now, that currently stands at a 440 billion euro level, that rescue package. media reports suggest it may be beefed up to 2 trillion euros or $2.7 trillion, with half the value of greece's debt being written off. no confirmation of those numbers. that's just speculation. any strengthening of the existing fund would take weeks to put into place. let's have a look at european stock markets and the way they're performing. one hour into the trading session and we are seeing a little gain there for some markets. up by more than 1%, actually, for the xetra dax, up by more than.5% and paris cac. the ftse is down and the others are up? the reason is commodity stocks are taking it on the chin particularly today. as a result, the london ftse, which has a number of large xhod stocks like rio tinto. let's turn to currency markets because concerns are taking a toll there. the euro and pound are down against the u.s. dollar with the euro having lost a total of 2% over the past week. now, you see the yen gaining slightly. 3 you're very good at doing cross rates in your head you'll probably notice the euro has slipped to a low level against the japanese jeyen. it's at a ten-year low against the yen. yen being seen as to some extent a safe haven under these circumstances. joining me for more on the global market is senior trader from etx capital. so, tell me, what are you and the markets make of these media reports we're hearing about the efs being boosted up to 2 trillion? clearly going to take some time. are markets impressed, is that why we're seeing these gains? >> no. i think what we've seen first thing this morning is a rapid selloff, short sharp selloff, a lot of positions being closed out. a loss of fear over the weekend. we had a balance of the markets late friday on the back of potentially the ecb or central banks intervening and doing something that could prop up certainly some of these eurozone nations that are in trouble. there was nothing announced over the weekend. therefore, we're back down again this morning where we are fairly volatile. it's not just down to europe. you mentioned the commodity stocks trading lower in europe. this is largely down to the price of copper falling very sharply on the potential slowdown in asia as well. so, things seem to be rolling down, certainly the economic numbers are coming in fairly negati negative. i won't be surprised to see third quarter corporate figures coming in on the down side or lower than broker expectations. we're entering that period of the year, that part of the season of the markets whereby you see extreme volatility, you see exaggerated downward moves and we could see a bottom forming over the next three months or so. >> interesting but let's have a look -- time the per peculiartive to the next five sessions or so. what are you going to be looking at over this week? >> well, i'll be looking for certainly a move lower in the equity markets. i wouldn't be surprised if we do see a further selloff in equities. an announcement from the ecb. there is a very vague rumor during the rounds today that the ecb could be cutting interest rates. they did in many opinion hike unnecessarily earlier this year to combat inflation. obviously, inflation was a major concern as opposed to the eurozone cries. now they do have maneuvered -- or room to maneuver on the downside with regard to interest rates. i wouldn't be surprised if something is announced on that front. eurozone nations, the ecb, eu and certainly inconjunction with the imf, probably need to announce something fairly soon in order to stabilize the markets and reduce the volatility we're seeing. >> okay, mnoj joining us live. thank you very much. we've been seeing all of those fears we were talking about earlier playing out on the asian stock markets as well as the european ones on monday. japan's nikkei index hit a six-month low. it had a hole day, actually, on friday so was catching up with the sharp declines on wall street and other asian indices. selloff continuing in hong kong with the hang seng losing more ground on top of last week's heavy losses. off by 1.5%. and shanghai off by 1.65%. but let's have a look at electronics sector. that was actually hit hard, too. presumably on fears of a global recession or at least a recession in europe and the united states. shares in panasonic and sharp were down by more than 4%. trading gets urn way if wall street in a few hours. this is following a fairly brutal week for u.s. stocks. the roller coaster ride ended with gains by friday's close. as manoj was mentioning. on the day the dow ended up a third of a percentage point. the s&p 500 advanced nearly two-third. nasdaq gaining more than 1%. but here's over the week the dow dropped to nearly 6.5%. the s&p lost a little more than that. and the nasdaq shed more than 5%. these are figures reminiscent of 2008, frankly. well, what are we going to expect at the open today? u.s. markets currently looking for further losses -- or a loss anyway at the open. trading beginning in five hours, 20 minutes. off by half a percent for the broader market, the s&p 500 and the dow 30. and nasdaq composite after a big run up on friday, losing three-quarters of a percent but that's just the futures market. staying in united states washington hosted a visitor from greece over the weekend. among the finance ministers who are gathering of the greek one, who was on message about the country's commitment to reining in its debt. he spoke at an international banking conference in the u.s. capital on sunday and he said, greece wants to make it and will make it. we're ready to take the necessary initiatives at any political cost. well, that didn't cut much ice with only ordinary greeks who took to it the streets of athens that very day to demonstrate against waged cuts and tax increases. those austerity measures are part of a deal greece has with its international creditors to bring down its debt. lenders will continue their audit of greece's finances this week. on thursday, germany will hold a crucial vote on whether to strengthen the fund used for european bailouts. all 17 members of the european bloc must approve for them to proceed. well, later on monday representatives from the european commission, the international monetary fund and the european central bank will arrive in greece to review its latest austerity package. cnn's john is with us from athens with more on that. sound like a big week for greece. certainly in terms of all these visitors and the finance minister making a visit of his own. >> reporter: that's for sure, charles. european union and greece have been criticized for not managing this crisis very well. this is like a conductor trying to manage an orchestra making sure they all stay on tune. on the balance here is an 8 billion euro trench greece is trying to get if they can deliver on $38 billion worth of fresh austerity cuts. prime minister papandreou goes to germany to speak to germany industrialist in berlin. angela merkel will be in the audience. she said it's very important to set the tone for the big vote on thursday. you have austria and finland voting on tuesday and wednesday. on the ground, when you talk to a number of different people, they're questioning themselves whether they can take more austerity, $38 billion. we'll talk with more of what that means. if you break down this package you're looking at a 20% peng cut for those making over $1600. a 40% pension cut for those who decided to take early retirement under the year of 55. and then 30,000 workers in the state sector, 3% being furloughed on lower pay. finally the greeks are being asked to pay a property tax now. not through 2012 as originally proposed, but now through 2014. again, many are saying, the government promised something in washington, they've promised something in brussel, will they be able to deliver? that's what prime minister papandreou will address tomorrow in germany. >> i'm sure he has to stay on message. let me read to you what an analyst wrote in some analysis that he sent out this morning. he said when a nation has to spend 50% of its gdp just to service its debt and the gdp is contracting in front of our eyes, then clearly the illusion of meeting troika criteria will not last long. i expect that economist is rather in tune with what people are saying on the streets of athens as well. >> reporter: in fact, charles, this discussion about a 50% haircut, which finance minister talked about ahead of the imf world bank meetings that was leaked out, in fact, is becoming the common ven ak lur. i've been covering the country since the mid-1990s. it's fair to say this is the first time i've seen the country so divided on many, many levels. divided within the party, how much the people can handle in terms of cuts, division within the parliament behind me, they're not cooperating at all. perhaps more importantly is the division between the private sector and the public sector right now. the public sector getting layoffs but the private sector say that's long overdue. public sector say private sector haven't been paying taxes on finger-pointing all around. the final division is whether they should try to stay in the euro in this austerity trap, contraction in the second quarter, record unemployment at 16%. severity on the ground is really deep and whether they can sustain that is a real question mark as the troika arrives in athens. >> fascinating stuff to watch, john, joining me live from syntagma constitution square in athens. you're watching "world business today." watch for more coverage in greece. we'll head back to athens to see how local businesses are reacting. as we look at the price of gold and we are seeing it coming back by like $60, $15 96. welcome back. live from london this is "world business today". the chief executive of ubs, union bank of swits lan, has abruptly resigned in the wake of the trading scandal that cost the bank an estimated $2.3 billion. he quit on saturday amid a swirl of questions about the bank's risk management practices but despite the practices, ubs shares at this hour are trading higher, up more than 1%. now, a 3 1-year-old ubs trader faces fraud charges in the scandal for allegingly making unauthorized trades in exchange traded funds, etfs. another top ubs executive is replacing gruble, at least for the short term. since april amotte has been the chairman and ceo of europe, middle east and africa group. before that he was deputy chief executive. he is a swiss-certified banking expert, oxford graduate. if gruble was quick to go, our next story has been a long time coming. three years after its initial delivery date and reportedly billions over budget, the first, just the first boeing dreamliner was delivered. the plane is the first commercial jetliner made from a carbon fiber plastic material that promises to cut fuel costs. boeing has orders for 820 more of them. now hopes to crank out about ten each month. well, anemic growth in the united states and europe has businesses around the world looking east for future growth. coming up, we look at the companies in latin america extending a warm welcome to chinese tourists. back at the currency markets now. and as you can see, some weakness there for the euro. 1.3435 against the dollar, but in terms of the japanese yen, we're looking at a ten-year low for the euro. welcome back. you're watching "world business today" live on cnn. european debt fears are front and center in investors' minds this monday. we've heard a lot from politicians and protesters. greek businesses have also been dealing with increased scrutiny of their country's financial affairs. john defterios joins us once again from athens. you were talking about the private and public sectors finger-pointing. we've heard a lot from the public sector, on the streets. what about the private sector? >> reporter: in fact, that's a great point. during the entire austerity plan we haven't heard from leading greek industrialist so we invited one to share his thoughts, the cham of the group that uses an energy group, infrastructure group and mining group. it's nice to have you on cnn. what i would like to jump into here is that we talk about the divisions between the private and public sectors. the public sector feeling, even though a quarter of the workplace, that they're asked to sacrifice too much in item of pengs. realistically what could be done to bridge the gap between these two? >> all we have to say about this gap at this point in time is the private sector is counting almost a million unemployed in the private public sector, not one layoff. so far it's the private sector that has to pay the bill. >> reporter: in item of realistically going forward, can this government deliver on 30,000 furloughed workers, 20% pension cuts, 40% pension cuts for those who retired before the age of 55? will they deliver what they promised? >> what is at stake here is the very survival of greek modern states. doesn't matter what the greek government has to deliver, greek survival. >> reporter: you have debt of 150% of gdp, unemployment at a record 16%. is it realistic now to say it's a foregone conclusion that a 50% haircut needs to be done? >> i don't want to make any comment about the haircut. that's in the hands of bankers and politicians. all i know is that what we have to do, whatever it takes, we must do. >> reporter: and that is a realist speaking here because you don't want to get into a political debate but can this government carry a burden like that and not grow, contracting at 7% a quarter? >> at some stage when the economy stabilizes, growth will come back. right now there are priorities. the priority at the moment is to materialize the agreement of 21st july. this is what you have to do now. now, if there's another debate over time about massive haircut and south peripheral zone, this is another thing. what you have to do now is deliver what you have to deliver. >> reporter: the final thing we want to talk about, we had a discussion five months about target of 5 billion euros. this year 50 billion over the next four years. nothing so far. so, this is a big black hole in items of austerity. >> i agree with you, john. we're all getting a little desperate about that. privatizations have to go ahead. there are limits, time limits. we have to do things. we hope that finally -- even at the last minute, we will start. >> reporter: thanks very much for your analysis, chairman of the holding company that bears his name, one of the leaders in terms of energy, mining and infrastructure. and the company that's grown looking outside of the greek market. >> john joining us live from athens, thank you. european debt fears continue to weaken global stock markets. we'll bring you the latest numbers here on "world business today." cnn london, welcome back to "world business today." recap of our top stories. representatives from the european commission, the international monetary fund and the european central bank are expected to return to athens on monday to continue their audit of greece's finances following a new wave of austerity measures. earlier this month, greece resisted demands by the imf, ecb for stricter measures. on thursday germany holds a key meeting on whether to strengthen the eu bailout fund. we're getting the first market reaction to the change in leadership at the swiss bank ubs. ubs shares in switzerland started the day down but currently up 1%. sergio armotti is the new interim ceo after gruble resigned on saturday over a massive rogue trading scandal. boeing has finally delivered the first of its 787 dreamliners to all nippon airways after three years of delays. public ceremonies will be held today and the aircraft will enter service next month. now, stock markets around the world are still reeling from u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner's comments over the weekend. at an imf meeting in washington he said europe's sovereign crisis is the most serious issue facing the global economy but he reiterated the united states' interest in lending europe a hand. >> europe is facing -- and i should say before you talk about europe, you know, it's worth noting that we have a huge direct stake in europe resolving this. not just through the dollar funding the feds providing them and through the imf, but of course we have a huge strategic interest, too, because we don't want to see europe weakened by a protracted financial crisis. not in the interest of the united states to see that happen so we have a strong interest in helping them through this. >> let's take a look at how european stock markets are moving right now this minute. here's where the leading indices stand 93 minutes, roughly, into the monday trading. we are still seeing losses but just scant ones. off by 0.7 for london ftse. dax is gaining 1.5%. zurich smi helped by the gains for ubs, not too much hampered, up by 1.65%. paris cac up by 1.2%. london ftse having more trouble because market analyst told us that's because we've seen a sharp fall in the price of copper. that's fixing those big london quoted commodity stocks. turning to asia, all of the major indices finished lower on concerns over the european sovereign debt crisis. japan's nikkei 225 was the worst performer. it had a holiday on friday, so it was playing catch up with losses we saw on friday on the other asian indices. though, we are off by more than 2% there. hang seng off by 1.5%. and the shanghai off by 1.65%. palin asx 2000