Japan stocks fell for a third day as a record drop in cargo fees for
commodities and a decline in oil overshadowed speculation bailouts will
quell financial turmoil.
Nippon Yusen K.K. lost 6.6 percent,
leading shippers to a two-year low, while Inpex Holdings Inc., Japan's
largest oil explorer, slid 6.1 percent. Resona Holdings Inc. reversed a
gain to fall 2.3 percent as a bailout of Belgian lender Fortis sapped
confidence in financial shares. Fast Retailing Co. surged 5.1 percent
as investors sought companies whose earnings are shielded against the
failures of global lenders.
Stocks rose in the morning after U.S. lawmakers agreed on a plan to buy bad loans from financial firms.
The
Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 149.55, or 1.3 percent, to close at
11,743.61 in Tokyo after gaining as much as 1.4 percent. The broader
Topix index slumped 20.02, or 1.7 percent, to 1,127.87. Two stocks
declined for each that rose on the Topix.
Nippon Yusen slumped 6.6
percent to 681 yen, while closest competitor Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd.
lost 6 percent to 889 yen. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan's No. 3
shipper, dropped 6.3 percent to 628 yen. A gauge of shipping lines sank
to the lowest since September 2006 and was the biggest loser among
Topix industry groups, followed by mining and trading companies.
European stocks tumbled the most in eight months,
sending the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index to the lowest level since January
2005, after bank bailouts accelerated and the $700 billion plan to
rescue American financial institutions failed to unlock money markets.
Anglo
Irish Bank Corp. Plc, Dexia SA and Deutsche Postbank AG plunged more
than 20 percent after the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg were forced to rescue Fortis and the U.K. seized Bradford
& Bingley Plc. Hypo Real Estate Holding AG slid 74 percent as the
German government and a group of private banks provided a 35
billion-euro ($50 billion) guarantee for the commercial-property
lender.
Fortis lost 24 percent to 3.97 euros after the company
received a bailout of 11.2 billion euros.Banco Santander SA, Spain's
biggest lender, will pay 612 million pounds ($1.1 billion) to buy
Bradford & Bingley branches and deposits, the U.K. Treasury said
today.
Santander shares declined 4.2 percent to 10.46 euros.
U.S. stocks plunged
and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled the most since 1987
after the House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion plan to
rescue the financial system.
Wachovia Corp. declined 85 percent
after the bank was sold to Citigroup Inc. in a deal brokered by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Sovereign Bancorp Inc. and National
City Corp. sank more than 60 percent, leading financial shares in the
S&P 500 to an 11 percent slide. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan
Stanley, the two largest Wall Street securities firms, fell more than
19 percent. The MSCI World Index of 23 developed markets slid 5.9
percent, the most since its creation in 1970.
The S&P 500 sank
to its lowest intraday level since October 2004 as all 10 of its
industry groups tumbled more than 2.5 percent. Only two stocks in the
benchmark index for U.S. equities advanced. The Dow average's retreat
was its steepest since the first trading day after the September 2001
terrorist attacks, sending the 30-stock gauge to an almost three-year
low.
Almost $1 trillion was wiped off the value of U.S. equities today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Congressmen
voted 228 to 205 against the measure to authorize the biggest
government intervention into markets since the Great Depression,
extending the S&P 500's decline this month to 11 percent, its
biggest drop since September 2002. The crisis that began with bad home
loans to subprime borrowers is threatening to push the economy into a
recession as consumers lose confidence and banks cut back on lending.
Benchmark
indexes extended earlier declines spurred when Wachovia and three
European banks required government- orchestrated rescues, heightening
concern that even the White House's $700 billion plan isn't enough to
shore up the global financial system.