Change % Change Last
Nikkei 225 -159.22 (-1.1%) 13,943.26
Topix -20.33 (-1.5%) 1,372.95
DAX 30 -4.35 (-0.1%) 7071.90
САС 40 -19.73 (-0.4%) 5055.58
FTSE 100 +9.80 (+0.2%) 6270.80
Dow +52.43 (+0.41%) 12866.78
Nasdaq +12.75 (+0.52%) 2451.24
S&P +5.11 (+0.37%) 1397.68
10YR +1 8/32 3.78% 24/32
OIL NYMEX +0.16 (+0.13%) $123.69
Japanese
stocks fell the most in almost four weeks after U.S. regulators
announced tougher disclosure requirements for investment banks,
sparking concern more credit- related losses will be exposed.
Mizuho
Financial Group Inc., Japan's third-biggest bank by value, tumbled the
most in five weeks, while Orix Corp., the No. 1 non-bank financial
company, plunged. Real-estate shares dropped after Daiwa Securities
Group Inc. lowered its ratings on three developers.
Mizuho,
which wrote down $5.4 billion in assets related to U.S. mortgages, lost
5.2 percent to 525,000 yen, after climbing by more than a half since
the beginning of April. That was Mizuho's biggest drop since March 31.
Orix tumbled 6 percent to 18,340 yen. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group
Inc., Japan's biggest bank by market value, slumped 3.7 percent to
1,117 yen.
Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., Japan's
third-largest developer, dropped 3 percent to 2,710 yen after Daiwa cut
its recommendation two levels to ``neutral'' from ``buy.'' Mitsubishi
Estate Co., the No. 2 property developer, lost 3.7 percent to 2,890 yen.
European
stocks fell for the third day this week as European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet said inflation remains high and ``risks to growth prevail,'' while Munich Re and InBev NV posted profit that missed analysts' estimates.
Barclays
Plc led financial shares lower after the ECB and Bank of England left
borrowing costs unchanged to guard against inflation. UniCredit SpA
sank as writedowns spurred a 51 percent slump in first-quarter
earnings. Boliden AB, the second-largest producer of zinc in Europe,
led a rally in commodities producers that limited the decline in the
Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index.
Barclays, the U.K.'s third-biggest bank, sank 2.5 percent to 463 pence. Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Britain's second-largest, lost 1.9 percent to 357.25 pence. BNP Paribas SA, France's largest bank, dropped 1.3 percent to 68.89 euros.UniCredit slid
3.3 percent to 4.782 euros. Italy's biggest bank said first-quarter
profit declined 51 percent, hurt by writedowns on asset-backed
securities.
Raiffeisen International Bank
retreated 7.8 percent to 100.1 euros after Austria's biggest bank by
market value said first-quarter net income increased to 254 million
euros from 193 million euros a year earlier. That missed the 260
million-euro median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Boliden led
gains among commodity stocks after reporting first-quarter earnings
which topped analyst estimates. Boliden surged 16 percent to 78 Swedish
kronor. Net income climbed 37 percent to 1.26 billion kronor ($208
million) beating the 608 million kronor average estimate of analysts
surveyed by Bloomberg.
Speculation of a 2,500 pence bid from Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. for Kazakhmys Plc helped shares of Kazakhstan's biggest copper producer, which gained 10 percent to 1,914 pence.
U.S.
stocks rose, rebounding from the market's biggest drop in a month, as
mining shares advanced on higher gold prices and sales topped estimates
at retailers and media companies.
Freeport-McMoRan
Copper & Gold Inc. led commodity producers to the biggest gain in
the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. jumped as
shoppers seeking discounts boosted sales. News Corp., the owner of Fox
television, advanced the most in five weeks after revenue was lifted by
advertisements for ``American Idol'' and the Super Bowl.
Seven
of 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 advanced today, with
financials posting the biggest decline. Benchmark indexes also gained
after the government reported initial jobless claims dropped last week
more than economists had forecast.
Freeport rallied
2.8 percent to $117.53. Gold rose to a one-week high as record energy
costs and a weakening dollar boost demand for a hedge against
inflation. The dollar fell against the euro and the U.K. pound after
the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept borrowing costs
steady to fight inflation.
The S&P 500 Materials Index rallied 1.9 percent as 25 of its 28 companies advanced.
Wal-Mart
climbed 58 cents to $57.41. Sales at stores open at least a year
climbed 3.2 percent, beating the company's forecast for a gain of as
much as 3 percent.
Wal-Mart closed at a three-year high of $58.61 on April 29. Costco,
the largest U.S. warehouse-club chain, rose to a record $72.65 on May
6. Costco today said April sales at stores open at least a year
advanced 8 percent, more than analysts estimated. The shares fell 20
cents to $71.88 today.
News Corp.
rose 2 percent to $18.79. The media company controlled by Rupert
Murdoch posted third-quarter revenue that topped analysts' estimates.
Profit tripled from a year earlier, boosted by a gain from the sale of
its stake in DirecTV Group Inc.