Weak World Markets, Dollar, Yen Gain

123jump.com Staff
27 Oct, 2008
New York City

U.S. stocks closed lower in a volatile trading. Regional banking stocks rose on the hopes that Treasury bailout will include regional banks. Crude oil fell. UK closed at 5-year low. Hong Kong index dropped 13% and India declined to 3-year low. Japan closed at 26-year low.

4:30PM New York, 10:30AM Frankfurt, 6:30AM Sydney[R]– Dollar and yen continues to rise against international currencies. CNA Financial quarterly loss drives insurance sector lower. Resource stocks closed lower. Japan stocks drop to a 26-year low. UK index falls to 5-year low and Hong Kong plunges 13%.[/R]

Global Markets

World markets slide after investors sold banking and resource stocks. Dollar and yen continue to rise against international currencies. Resource stocks fall in New York, Toronto, London and South America. Crude oil and metals prices drop to 3-year low.

Insurance companies fell after CNA Financial swung to a loss in the latest quarter. AXA, Allianz, Hartford and MetLife dropped more than 9%. General Motors declined on the speculation that it may need federal aid for its merger with Chrysler. FPL Group dropped 4% after net income surged 45%.

UK stocks recovered from 6% loss in the day but closed at 5-year low. The pound dropped nearly 2% against euro and dollar. Home price declined 7% in October. Persimmons, the home builder takes a charge for its land portfolio of 600 million.

Stocks in Japan fall to a 26-year low on the worries that banks will need to raise more capital. Mitsubishi UFJ plunged 15% after it said that it will raise nearly $11 billion in the next one year. Mizuho Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui dived 15% and 11%. Yen rose to a 13-year high.

Hong Kong stocks plunged nearly 13% on the worries that global economic slowdown will drag exports and earnings of the companies in the China region. Banks, shipping and airlines led the decline. China Life, China Vanke, Dongfang Electric and Ping An reported weaker than expected results.

Sensex dropped 2% to a 3-year low on the worries that global economic slowdown will lower exports and foreign fund flows. Sensex declined fell as much as 6% in the early trading. Jet Airways swung to a loss after fuel prices surged. ICICI profit rises 1.1% and State Bank of India net up 31%.

North American Markets

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 203.18 or 2.4% to a close of 8,175.77, S&P 500 Index closed down 27.82 or 3.2% to 848.95, and Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 46.13 or 2.97% to close at 1,505.90. In Toronto, TSX Composite Index fell 716.70 or 7.7% to 8,577.39.

Of the 30 stocks in Dow Jones Industrial Average, 14 increased and 16 closed lower.

General Motors led the decliners in the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a loss of 5.4% followed by losses in Boeing Company of 4.8%, in JP Morgan Chase 2.6%, in Du Pont of 2.2%, in United Tech Corp of 1.6% and in Wal-Mart Stores of 1.4%.

Verizon Communication led gainers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average with a rise of 11% followed by gains in 3M Company of 4%, in Home Depot Inc of 3.6%, in Intel Corp of 2.3%, in General Electric of 2.3% and in Johnson & Johnson of 1.5%.

Of the stocks in S&P 500 index, 91 increased, 408 declined and one was unchanged. Of the index stocks, 8 rose more than 3% and 418 fell more than 3%. And 101 declined more than 10%.

MGIC Investment Corp led decliners in the S&P 500 index with a plunge of 21.2% followed by losses in AIG of 18%, in Hartford Financial Services of 17.6%, in Loews Corp of 17.4%, in Tyson Foods of 16.5% and in Genworth Financial of 16%.

Huntington Banc led the gainers in the S&P 500 index with a surge of 13% followed by gains in Regions Financial of 11.6%, in First Horizon of 11.6%, in Verizon Communication of 11%, in Textron Inc of 10.9%, in Zions Bancorp of 8.7% and in CB Richard Ellis of 7.9%.

South American Markets Indexes

Peru led decliners in the region with a loss o 5.3% followed by losses of 5% in Argentina, in Brazil of 4.4%, in Colombia of 3.2% and in Venezuela of 1.1%. Chie gained 0.2% and Mexico increased 1.9%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 30.77 or 0.79% to 3,852.59, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 126.44 or 3.96% to close at 3,067.35 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 9.66 or 0.22% to close at 4,286.01. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 174.15 or 3.07% to close at 5,500.94.

Asian Markets Review

The Nikkei 225 Index in Tokyo closed lower 486.18 or 6.36% to 7,162.90, Hang Seng index in Hong Kong decreased 1,602.54 or 12.70% closed to 11,015.84. CSI 300 index in China lower 126.93 or 7.12% closed to 1,654.67. ASX 200 index in Australia decreased 60.20 or 1.56% to close 3,809.20. Markets in Malaysia were closed today.

The Kospi Index in South Korea increased 7.70 or 0.82% to close at 946.45. SET index in Thailand closed lower 45.44 or 10.50% to 387.43 and JSE Index in Indonesia decreased 78.46 or 6.30% to 1,166.41. The Sensex index in India decreased 191.51 or 2.20% closed to 8,509.56.

Commodities, Metals, and Currencies

Crude oil decreased $1.34 to close at $62.81 a barrel for a front month contract, natural gas decreased 10 cent to $6.14 per mBtu and gasoline futures decreased 0.69 cents to close at 147.10 cents per gallon.

Wheat futures closed up 13 cents in Chicago trading and closed at $5.29 a bushel. Sugar decreased 0.20 cent to 10.96 cents a pound. Soybean future closed up 30.50 cents to $2.763 a bushel.

Gold increased $4.80 in New York trading to close at $735.10 per ounce, silver closed down 21 cents to $9.08 per ounce and copper for the front month delivery increased 11.85 cent to $1.805 per pound.

Dollar edged higher against euro to $1.257 and dropped against yen to 93.95.

Yields on 10-year U.S. bonds increased to 3.72% and with 30-year maturities decreased to 4.10%.