Change % Change Last
Nikkei -622.10 -6.50% 8 899.14
Topix -57.61 -6.00% 909.30
FTSE -258.32 -5.70% 4,272.41
DAX-353.30 -6.84% 4,813.57
CAC -230.86 -6.38% 3,387.25
Dow -443.48 -4.85% 8,695.79
NASDAQ -72.94 -4.34% 1,608.70
S&P -47.89 -5.03% 904.88
S&P 500 -52.97 -5.27% 952.78
10yr Note +0.1300 +0.035% 3.707%
NYMEX Crude Oil -4.53 -6.94% 60.77
Gold -10.20 -1.37% 732.20
Japanese stocks dropped for the first time in three days as
worse-than-expected U.S. jobs and services data caused a rally sparked
by Barack Obama's presidential election victory to fizzle out.
Sony
Corp., which gets a quarter of its sales from the U.S., and Canon Inc.
sank more than 11 percent. Nippon Steel Corp., the world's No. 2 maker
of the alloy, dropped 6.8 percent after bigger rival ArcelorMittal
doubled production cuts amid slowing demand. Oil explorer Inpex Corp.
slid 11 percent after crude tumbled. Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Orix Corp.
fell after slashing profit forecasts.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average
slumped 622.10, or 6.5 percent, to close at 8,899.14 in Tokyo. The
broader Topix index fell 57.61, or 6 percent, to 909.30, with almost
seven stocks sliding for each that rose on the gauge.
Sony, the
world's second-biggest maker of consumer electronics, lost 11 percent
to 2,295 yen, erasing yesterday's 9.1 percent surge. Canon, the world's
biggest camera maker, dropped 13 percent to 3,470 yen after gaining 13
percent yesterday.
Nippon Steel fell 6.8 percent to 331 yen, while
JFE Holdings Inc., Japan's second largest steelmaker, slid 7.4 percent
to 2,645 yen. ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, yesterday
forecast an earnings drop of as much as 48 percent in the fourth
quarter and said it will cut global output more than 30 percent.
Inpex,
Japan's largest oil and gas explorer, sank 11 percent to 599,000 yen,
while Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. lost 6.3 percent to 4,170 yen.
Both companies surged more than 12 percent yesterday. Sumitomo Metal
Mining Co., Japan's second- biggest copper smelter, fell 7.9 percent to
756 yen.
Orix, the nation's largest non-bank financial company,
plummeted 14 percent to 10,300 yen. The company yesterday cut its
full-year earnings estimate by 40 percent, citing falling profit from
securities transactions.
European stocks dropped for a second
day as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the
financial crisis may lead to a protracted economic slump, deepening
concern the slowdown will stifle profit growth.
Stocks
initially pared declines after the Bank of England cut its rate more
than economists expected. The ECB's reduction that matched predictions
followed by declines in early U.S. trading dragged shares lower. Policy
makers in Switzerland and Denmark also reduced rates today.
The bank discussed reducing rates by 75 basis points, he said. Today's move was the second cut in less than a month.
National
benchmarks fell in all 18 western European markets. The U.K.'s FTSE 100
slid 5.7 percent with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and BHP Billiton Ltd.
following declines in oil and metal prices. Germany's DAX tumbled 6.8
percent, while France's CAC 40 retreated 6.4 percent.
Adidas, the
world's second-largest sporting-goods maker, fell 9.6 percent to 26.64
euros after reporting third-quarter profit of 302 million euros ($388
million). That missed the 320.5 million-euro estimate in a Bloomberg
survey of five analysts.
Axa dropped 9.2 percent to 15.15 euros.
Europe's largest insurer had a 3.4 percent decline to 20.14 billion
euros in third-quarter revenue on lower sales of life and savings
products in the U.S. and U.K. That compares with the 20.2 billion-euro
estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Earnings for the 956 companies in western Europe that reported results since Oct. 7 declined 6.7 percent on average.
Shell,
Europe's biggest energy company, retreated 7.4 percent to 1,642 pence.
Total SA, the region's largest oil refiner, dropped 6.4 percent to
40.02 euros.
Oil slumped, matching yesterday's loss of more than 7
percent, on signs that fuel demand will contract as the global economy
slows.
Mining shares retreated as copper slumped. BHP Billiton,
the world's largest mining company, sank 15 percent to 969 pence. Anglo
American Plc, the fourth-biggest diversified mining company, tumbled 15
percent to 1,326 pence.
Downbeat economic data, abysmal
retail sales, and weak business prospects reminded investors just how
tenuous the macro environment has become. Sellers dominated Thursday's
action and pushed stocks sharply lower for the second straight session.
The two-day slide amounted to a 10.0% loss, the worst two-day drop in
nearly one month.
Job markets remain loose as claims stand at
recession-like levels. Weekly jobless claims for the week ended Nov. 1
totaled 481,000, down 4,000 from the prior week. The weekly number was
roughly in-line with the consensus estimate, and the four-week moving
average held steady at 477,000. Economists await the October
unemployment rate due tomorrow morning.
Nonfarm business
productivity rose at a 1.1% annual rate in the third quarter, in-line
with expectations. Unit labor costs rose at a 3.6% annual rate, which
was more than expected.
With job losses mounting, consumers are
less willing to spend their discretionary dollars. In turn, Nordstrom
(-0.78), Gap ( -0.38), American Eagle (-0.16), and Abercrombie &
Fitch (-0.23) all reported double-digit declines in October same-store
sales.
Wholesalers and discounters like BJ's Wholesale (+0.64) and
Wal-Mart (+0.34) fared better, able to benefit by attracting
cash-strapped shoppers to their stores. Both posted increased
same-store sales for October.
Retailers haven't been the only
companies battling against stiff macro headwinds. Tech bellwether Cisco
(-0.45) posted better-than-expected earnings per share results for the
latest quarter, but disappointed when it announced it expects revenue
to take a downturn.
Challenging business conditions continue
weighing on actual earnings results and earnings expectations. Analysts
at Morgan Stanley project Goldman Sachs (-6.71) will post its first
quarterly loss since the former Wall Street star went public just over
a decade ago.
Declines among financial stocks made them the worst
performing economic sector. It shed 6.7% this session and is now just
10.8% above its 52-week low, reached nearly two weeks ago.
After
Google (-11.02) walked away from a proposed business alliance with
Yahoo! (+0.04), Yahoo stated it is a strategic fit for Microsoft
(-1.20). Microsoft offered to pay Yahoo roughly $33 per share earlier
this year, but walked away when Yahoo argued the price was too low.
The
negative bias among market participants took stocks steadily lower as
the session progressed. The major indices finished near their session
lows, each down more than 6.5% week-to-date.