Stock market fixing:
Nikkei 225 +146.04 +1.10% 13,165.45
Topix +16.44 +1.30% 1,263.75
FTSE -4.60 -0.08% 5,450.20
DAX -13.14 -0.20% 6,432.88
CAC -4.78 -0.11% 4,448.84
Dow -180.18 -1.55% 11,479.72
NASDAQ -35.54 -1.45% 2,416.98
S&P -19.56 -1.51% 1,278.64
10yr Note -0.3600 -0.093% 3.816%
NYMEX Crude Oil -0.90 -0.79% 112.87
Gold +13.60 +1.72% 805.70
Japan's stocks opened the week higher as concerns eased
that tighter lending standards will drive developers to bankruptcy, and
after analysts recommended manufacturer shares that have become cheap.
Japan
General Estate Co. jumped the most in a year after rival developer
Urban Corp.'s bankruptcy filing set off a 19 percent drop in two days.
Komatsu Ltd., the world's second- largest earthmover maker, rose 3.8
percent after Nikko Citigroup Ltd. said its share price was a ``good
investment opportunity.'' AOC Holdings Inc. surged 5.6 percent after
oil prices slumped, boosting margins for the refiner.
he
Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 146.04, or 1.1 percent, to close at
13,165.45 in Tokyo. The broader Topix index rose 16.44, or 1.3 percent,
to 1,263.75, the sharpest jump since Aug. 11. Almost four stocks
advanced for each that fell on the Topix. The Nikkei has risen 12
percent since it hit a more than two-year low on March 17. The gauge is
still down 14 percent on the year.Komatsu climbed 3.8 percent to 2,445
yen, the sharpest jump since July 22. Nikko Citigroup analyst Yoshinao
Ibara lifted it to ``buy'' from ``hold.'' The stock had fallen 31
percent through Aug. 15 from its June 4 high in 2008.
Sumitomo
Metal Industries Co., Japan's third-biggest steelmaker, surged 7.4
percent, the most since August 2007, to 481 yen. Mitsubishi UFJ
Securities boosted its rating on the stock to ``outperform'' from
``market perform,'' citing the company's plan to pass on cost increases
on steel pipes. The company's shares had fallen 15 percent this month.
Nippon Steel Corp., the world's second-biggest maker of the metal,
added 2.9 percent to 538 yen.
European
stocks fell for the first time in three days after the steepest decline
in U.K. house prices since at least 2002 dragged down banks and
consumer companies, overshadowing gains in commodity producers.
Barclays
Plc fell 2 percent and Lloyds TSB Group Plc lost 1.9 percent after an
industry group said the average asking price for a U.K. home fell 4.8
percent from a year earlier. Home Retail Group Plc, the owner of U.K.
store chains Argos and Homebase, dropped 3.4 percent. Anglo American
Plc rallied 2.1 percent on higher gold and silver prices. Total SA
climbed 1.8 percent as the cheapest energy shares in at least a decade
lured investors.
National
benchmark indexes decreased in 11 of the 18 western European markets.
France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.1 percent, while
Germany's DAX lost 0.2 percent.
Trading in
shares of FTSE 100 companies today fell to the lowest since May 12,
while the number of shares changing hands on the DAX and the CAC 40
dropped to the lowest since May 26, according to Bloomberg data.
U.K.
house prices posted the biggest annual decline in August since
Rightmove Plc, Britain's most-used property Web site, began measuring
home values six years ago. Prices dropped 2.3 percent in August, the
most since December, Rightmove said.
Home
Retail lost 3.4 percent to 247 pence. Persimmon Plc, the U.K.'s largest
homebuilder by market value, sank 5.6 percent to 332 pence.
Adidas
AG, the world's second-largest sporting-goods maker, declined 2.4
percent to 40.98 euros after HSBC Holdings Plc downgraded the shares to
``underweight'' from ``neutral,'' saying that the long-term consensus
estimates for earnings over the next three years are ``too optimistic.''
Anglo
American, the world's fourth-largest diversified mining company, jumped
2.1 percent to 2,791 pence. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-biggest
mining company, added 1.7 percent to 4,683 pence.
Gold
advanced as much as 2.3 percent as the dollar declined against the
euro, bolstering demand for the metal as an alternative investment.
Silver gained as much as 4.1 percent.
BHP
Billiton Ltd. added 0.5 percent to 1,537 pence. The world's largest
mining company reported profit rose 30 percent in the second half and
increased its full-year dividend by 49 percent to 70 cents a share.
U.S.
stocks declined the most in more than a week, led by banking and real
estate shares, as growing speculation the government will bail out
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rattled the mortgage market.
Freddie
Mac and Fannie Mae slumped to the lowest in almost two decades, losing
more than 18 percent, after Barron's said shareholders of the biggest
sources of U.S. home-loan financing would be wiped out by a Treasury
rescue. Lennar Corp. and Ryland Group Inc. led a 5.5 percent drop by
builders. Hershey Co. retreated the most since 2002 after the chocolate
maker said price increases will curb growth. The market extended its
decline after oil pared a loss of as much as 1.6 percent.
The
S&P 500 has dropped 13 percent this year as the biggest U.S.
housing slump since the Great Depression slowed consumer spending and
spurred turmoil in mortgage markets that saddled banks with more than
$500 billion of losses. The benchmark index for U.S. equities has
rallied 5.2 percent from an almost three- year low on July 15.
Banks
and brokerages in the S&P 500 staged their biggest one-day rally on
July 16 after the government announced plans to shore up Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac's financing. The S&P 500 Financials Index gained 19
percent since the measures were disclosed through last week.
Stocks
advanced on Aug. 15, sending the S&P 500 to a third weekly gain.
MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group Inc. climbed after the largest bond
insurers had their credit ratings affirmed and a report showed
unexpected growth in New York manufacturing.
Fannie
Mae today lost $1.44, or 18 percent, to $6.47, the lowest price since
September 1990, and Freddie Mac dropped $1.12, or 19 percent, to $4.73,
a price last seen in January 1991. The S&P Supercomposite
Homebuilding Index slumped as much as 5.4 percent. Lennar fell 92
cents, or 7.8 percent, to $10.90. Ryland retreated $1.73, or 8 percent,
to $19.88. Financial shares in the S&P 500 slumped 3.4 percent, the
most among 10 industries.