Stock market fixing:
Nikkei 225 -322.65(-2.2%)14,130.17
Topix-34.04(-2.4%)1,375.60
DAX 30 -7.74(-0.12%)6721.17
САС 40 -27.36(-0.59%)4591.39
FTSE 100 -48.50(-0.84%)5708.40
Dow +34.03(+0.28%)12063.09
Nasdaq +32.36(+1.33%)2462.07
S&P +5.02(+0.38%)1342.83
10YR -20/324.21%97 8/32
OIL NYMEX -4.75(-3.48%)$131.93
Japan's stocks fell the most in two months.
Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc., Japan's
second-largest publicly traded trust bank, sank the most in three months. Honda
Motor Co. led automakers to their deepest drop in two months after Citigroup
Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG predicted U.S. vehicle sales may plunge to a
15-year low.
Chuo Mitsui tumbled 5.8%, the most since March
26, to 704 yen. Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan's largest brokerage, sank 4%.
Orix Corp., which provides financial services including credit-card loans and
mortgages, tumbled 4.6%. Honda, which gets more than half of its profit from North America, retreated 3.4%, and Mazda Motor Corp.
sagged 5.5%. Nissan Motor Co. lost 4.3%. The Topix Transportation Equipment
Index had its sharpest drop since April 4.
European stocks fell
to a three- month low
as speculation grew that banks will post more losses and a U.S. manufacturing report provided
the latest evidence the world's largest economy is slipping into a recession.
UBS AG and Deutsche Bank AG retreated for a
second day as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. forecast more writedowns, while HBOS Plc
slumped the most in a week after saying bad home loans rose. Stora Enso Oyj
declined as Merrill Lynch & Co. recommended selling shares in the world's
second- biggest papermaker on lower earnings prospects.
UBS fell 3.7%. Deutsche Bank, Germany's
biggest bank, lost 1.7%. Deutsche Bank and UBS face ``earnings headwinds'' of
480 million euros ($743 million) and 4 billion francs ($3.8 billion), respectively, Goldman analysts said in a report.
HBOS dropped 6.9%. The U.K.'s biggest
mortgage lender said home prices will fall as much as 9% this year, more than
it earlier forecast, and bad home loans rose 17%.
European, Aeronautics, Defence & Space Co.
slipped 2.5%. Boeing Co. successfully challenged the U.S. Air Force's $35
billion aerial-tanker award to EADS and Northrop Grumman Corp., giving Boeing
another shot at the program after a three-month lobbying blitz.
TietoEnator Oyj lost 6%. The biggest
computer-services company in the Nordic region said it ended talks with bidders
after no ``firm and actionable offers'' emerged.
Stocks drifted
Thursday morning as
investors weighed falling oil prices and a big drop in a key manufacturing
index.
Stocks have been under
pressure this week
as oil prices have flirted with new records, adding to worries about inflation.
Concerns about the ongoing credit market fallout have also been in play after
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs both reported big drops in quarterly profit.
Economy: The Philadelphia Fed index, a
regional reading on manufacturing, fell to -17.1 in June from -15.6 in May. The number
of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell modestly by 5,000 last
week to 381,000, but stayed at levels that continued to reflect a struggling
economy.
Another economic report was more positive. The
Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators rose 0.1% in May, as it
did in April. Economists had expect LEI to remain unchanged.
Company news: Shares of Ford were little changed
despite news that billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. had boosted its
stake in Ford to 6.49% from 5.5%.
Circuit City reported a wider loss from a year
earlier on weaker revenue due to sluggish sales amid the consumer spending
slowdown.