Stock market fixing:
Nikkei +212.62 +1.70%
12,878.66
Topix +22.83 ,+1.90% 1,239.25
CAC -44.58 -1.01%
4,355.87
DAX -44.27 -0.70%
6,296.95
DOW 241.81 -2.08% 11,386.25
NASDAQ 49.12 -2.03% 2,365.59
S&P 500 25.35 -1.96% 1,266.85
10yr Note -0.7600 -0.198%
3.791%
NYMEX Crude Oil -0.34
-0.28% 115.11
Gold -7.70 -0.92% 825.70
Japanese shares rose for the first time in a week after crude oil dropped, relieving
inflationary pressure, and as credit-market concerns eased amid speculation
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will receive an investment.
Bridgestone Corp., the world's
largest tiremaker by sales, surged 4.1% after oil fell more than $6 a barrel
and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said inflation should slow.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest publicly traded
bank, jumped 4.8% after a report Korea Development Bank might invest in Lehman.
European stocks declined, led by banks and builders, as concern grew that credit losses will
spread and the economic slowdown will deepen. Natixis SA, the French bank
planning a 3.7 billion-euro ($5.5 billion) rights offer to replenish capital,
dropped 4.1%, and KBC Group NV, Belgium's second-biggest financial- services
firm, lost 3.2%. Vinci SA, the world's largest builder, slipped 1.5% on reports
the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for euro-area economic
growth.
The IMF cut the region's growth
outlook this year to 1.4% from 1.7%.
U.S. stocks fell for the first time in four days as a Kansas bank's failure and speculation
American International Group Inc. will post a loss heightened concern that
credit writedowns will keep rattling the financial system.
AIG, the world's largest insurer,
tumbled 5% after Credit Suisse Group said the company may lose $2.41 billion
this quarter on mortgage-related writedowns. Washington Mutual Inc. and
Huntington Bancshares Inc. each dropped more than 4% after Columbian Bank &
Trust Co. became the ninth U.S. bank to collapse this year. Lehman Brothers
Holdings Inc. slumped 7% on concern a Korean bank will abandon a potential
investment in the fourth-biggest U.S. securities firm.
Stocks fell even after a report showed sales of previously owned homes
in the U.S.
rose in July from a
10-year low as declining prices helped stabilize demand.
Morgan Stanley cut its year-end forecast for the S&P 500 on concern banks will report more
credit-related writedowns and the global economic slowdown will curb profits at
technology and industrial companies.
The KBW Bank Index retreated 2.7%.
Washington Mutual lost 21 cents to $3.62. Huntington Bancshares retreated 48
cents to $7.03. SunTrust Banks Inc., the largest bank based in Georgia, fell
5.6% to $40.34 after Citigroup Inc. began covering it with a ``sell'' rating.