A look at economic developments around the globe

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MADRID -- Worries about Spain's finances intensified when the country's bond yields on international markets rose despite expectations of a new round of austerity measures.

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BERLIN -- German exports rose for a second consecutive month in February, according to official data that showed demand from outside the debt-troubled eurozone was becoming increasingly important for Europe's largest economy.

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LONDON -- Concerns that the world's powerhouse economies of China and the U.S. are struggling and that Europe's debt crisis isn't over drove most European markets down.

France's CAC-40 plummeted 3.1 percent, while the DAX in Germany fell 2.5 percent. The FTSE index of leading British shares lost 2.2 percent.

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TOKYO -- In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.1 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.1 percent. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.1 percent.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, meanwhile, rose 0.9 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia, the benchmark indexes in Thailand and India were down. Those of Taiwan and Singapore were up.

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PIRAEUS, Greece -- Ferry services to Greek islands and nearby Italy were halted by a 48-hour strike that is expected to hit the start of the country's tourism season and celebrations for Orthodox Easter this Sunday.

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TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran can manage its economy even without crude exports, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed on Tuesday as Tehran cut off oil sales to Greece, the third European nation to be hit by an Iranian retaliatory measure ahead of European Union's oil embargo.

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