Stock market fixing:
Nikkei 225 +226.40 +1.6% 14,435.57
Topix +23.03 +1.6% 1,430.47
FTSE 100 -87.60 -1.45% 5,970.10
CAC 40 -68.64 -1.38% 4,915.07
Xetra Dax -53.70 -0.77% 6,965.43
DOW -13.35 -0.11% 12,389.50
NASDAQ +22.66 +0.91% 2,503.14
S&P 500 -0.50 -0.04% 1,377.15
10yr Note +0.4200 +0.108%
3.940%
NYMEX Crude Oil -2.01
-1.62% 122.30
Gold -1.70 -0.19% 883.80
Japan's stocks rose to the highest this year after automakers posted higher sales in the U.S.,
and the weakening yen boosted the earnings prospects at companies reliant on
overseas markets.
Honda Motor Co. jumped to a six-month high
after its Civic became the best-selling car in the U.S. Sony Corp., which gets
a quarter of its revenue from the U.S., climbed after the Federal Reserve
signaled support for the dollar. Fast Retailing Co., Japan's largest clothing retailer,
soared the most in more than four years on a newspaper report it will beat its
profit target. Honda, Japan's second-largest carmaker,
jumped 8.6%, the highest since Dec. 26. Sales of the automaker's Civic and
Accord models exceeded those of Ford Motor Co.'s F- Series pickups in the U.S.
last month, the first time any auto has topped the truck in 15 years.
Rising oil prices lifted demand for more
fuel-efficient vehicles, helping Asian carmakers outsell Detroit's Big Three for the first time.
Mazda Motor Corp. jumped 9.1%, the biggest gain
since February 2006.
Sony jumped 2.8% and Nintendo Co.,
the world's biggest maker of handheld game players, added 2.8%. Mitsubishi
Electric Corp. rose 2.3%, the highest since Dec. 11.
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., the nation's biggest
gold producer, dropped 2.8%, while Inpex Holdings Inc., declined 2.3%.
European stocks fell to a one-week low on speculation banks may need more capital as
losses increase, while lower oil and metals prices weighed on commodity
producers.
Societe Generale SA slipped to the
lowest in two months and BNP Paribas SA sank after Fitch Ratings said the banks
may have to raise additional capital as their finances weaken. Royal Dutch
Shell Plc, Europe's largest oil producer,
slumped to the lowest in three weeks, and mining company Anglo American Plc had
its biggest drop in almost two weeks.
Societe Generale declined 1.7%. BNP, France's
largest bank, retreated 0.8%. Barclays Plc, the U.K.'s third-biggest bank, slipped
2.3%.
Shell dropped 2.9%, while BP Plc, Europe's second-biggest oil producer, sank 3.9%. Total
SA, the region's third-largest, retreated 3.8%.
Stocks closed mix Wednesday as investors eyed falling oil prices, an upwardly revised reading on
productivity and talk of more problems for Lehman Brothers.
Lehman Brothers fell for a second
session on reports that the company could be forced to sell some or all of
itself to another bank due to ongoing balance sheet woes.
United Airlines said it will reduce
its fleet by 100 planes and cut as much as 1,600 jobs amid losses related to
higher fuel costs.
Intel Corp., the biggest
semiconductor company, Hewlett- Packard Co., the largest maker of personal
computers, and EBay Inc., the biggest online auction site, advanced as the
Institute for Supply Management's service index expanded more than projected.
American Express, the biggest U.S.
credit-card lender, rallied the most in a month after predicting profit that
topped forecasts. Bank of America Corp. dropped to the lowest since 2002,
limiting the market's advance, after Merrill Lynch & Co. reduced earnings
forecasts through 2010.
Ambac Financial Group Inc. tumbled
the most since April 23. The second-biggest bond insurer will be replaced by
Lorillard Inc. in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index after the close of
trading June 10.