Japan stocks market was closed Monday due to National Culture Day
European
stocks advanced for a fifth day, the longest stretch of gains in a
year, as declining money- market rates overshadowed evidence the global
economy is slipping into a recession.
ING Groep NV, the
Netherlands' biggest financial-services provider, added 5.2 percent,
and Swiss Reinsurance Co., the world's second-largest reinsurer,
climbed 6.3 percent as a leading money-market indicator slid to the
lowest level since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. HBOS
Plc rallied 6.1 percent on speculation the mortgage lender may receive
a rival bid to Lloyds TSB Group Plc's offer.
The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.6 percent to 223.38, marking the longest winning streak since October 2007.
Investors
looked past reports today that showed manufacturing in the U.S.
contracted in October at the fastest pace since 1982 and factory output
in the U.K. shrank for a sixth straight month. The European Commission
said the region's economy probably entered a recession in the third
quarter and trimmed its growth forecast for this year to 1.2 percent
from 1.3 percent.
Europe's Stoxx 600 climbed 12 percent last week,
the biggest weekly gain since September 2001, as central banks from the
U.S. to Japan cut borrowing costs to revive economic growth.
Even
after last week's rally, European stocks are headed for their worst
year on record as a jump in U.S. mortgage defaults saddled global banks
with more than $684 billion of losses and caused credit markets to lock
up. The Stoxx 600 has tumbled 39 percent in 2008 and reached a
five-year low on Oct. 27 when the gauge traded at 7.9 times reported
earnings of the companies in the index, the cheapest level since at
least January 2002.
U.S. stocks fell for the first time
in three days as a private report showed manufacturing slumped more
than forecast and analysts said the weakening economy will hurt results
at companies from Disney Co. to Halliburton Co.
Disney lost 6.4
percent after Merrill Lynch & Co. said the economic slowdown will
hurt theme-park and television income. Halliburton, the second-biggest
U.S. oilfield services provider, led a retreat in 37 of 40 energy
companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index after Goldman Sachs
Group Inc. cut the shares to ``neutral'' and oil prices slid. AT&T
Inc. jumped more than 4 percent after Wachovia Corp. said its valuation
is ``compelling'' and the stock is a ``safe haven.''
The S&P
500 retreated after posting its first back-to-back gains in more than a
month. The benchmark index for U.S. stocks sank 17 percent last month.
The October sell-off erased more than $9.5 trillion from the value of
stocks worldwide, almost one-third of the total value wiped out this
year, as credit- related losses and writedowns by financial firms
approached $700 billion.
About 624 million shares changed hands on
the NYSE, 22 percent less than at the same time a week ago. Voters go
to the polls in the U.S. tomorrow to elect a new president.
Disney
lost $1.66 to $24.25. Merrill cut its share-price estimate for the
world's largest theme-park operator by 11 percent to $24, saying the
company's parks and broadcasting businesses may be hurt by the
``weakening consumer and softening advertising market, respectively.''
Halliburton
fell 9.8 percent to $17.85, leading a decline in energy companies. The
oilfield-services provider was cut to ``neutral'' from ``buy'' at
Goldman, which cited ``product risks and valuation'' in a note to
clients.
Crude oil fell as much as 6.2 percent after the Institute
for Supply Management said manufacturing in the U.S. contracted in
October at the fastest pace in 26 years.
Earlier gains in benchmark indexes were spurred by a decrease in money market rates.