Stocks (MXWD) fell for a third day, the longest stretch in two months, while the yen strengthened and metals retreated after data from the U.S. and Europe signaled slowing economic growth.
The MSCI All-Country World Index (MXWD) declined 0.5 percent as of 8:05 a.m. in London. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 0.5 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.5 percent. Ten- year Treasury yields fell two basis points to 1.99 percent. The euro dropped for a fifth day against the yen, while the Dollar Index rose. Copper, aluminum and zinc fell at least 1 percent.
“We will indeed be haunted again by some of the global macro problems,” Arnout Van Rijn, chief investment officer for Robeco Groep NV’s Hong Kong division, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. The firm oversees about $200 billion globally. “You probably don’t have a lot of upside anymore.”U.K. retail sales declined for a second month in February, the British Retail Consortium said before data today that may show the European economy contracted in the fourth quarter. South Korea’s government said it will step up policy efforts to support growth amid rising oil prices. Stocks (MXWD) fell around the world yesterday after U.S. factory orders declined and Chinaannounced the lowest economic growth target since 2004.
European equities retreated as investors awaited details of private-creditor participation in Greece’s debt restructuring. The nation expects bondholders to accept the offer and is ready to force them to participate if necessary, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Athens yesterday.
Stock Valuations
Asian stocks have risen for the past 11 consecutive weeks, pushing the MSCI gauge up 10 percent in 2012. The Asian equity benchmark trades at 14.8 times estimated earnings, near the highest level since May 2010, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index sank 3.2 percent, the biggest drop since December. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.6 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index lost 0.8 percent.
AIA Group Ltd. (1299) tumbled 8.4 percent in Hong Kong after American International Group Inc. sold $6 billion of the company’s shares to help repay U.S. government rescue funds. Hang Seng Index volume was double the 30-day average as AIA shares resumed trading after being suspended yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Raw-material producers slid 2 percent for the biggest drop among 10 industries in the MSCI Asia-Pacific index. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, slumped 2.3 percent in Australian trading.
Copper Stockpiles
Three-month copper fell as much as 1.1 percent to $8,411.25 a metric ton. Stockpiles of the metal monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange have climbed to the highest since at least January 2003, weekly data showed.
Cotton for delivery in May gained for a second day after India banned exports, rising as much as 2.2 percent to 94.24 cents a pound in New York. The contract rallied by the exchange- set daily limit yesterday.
The euro fell 0.5 percent to 107.25 yen. Gross domestic product in the euro area probably fell 0.3 percent in the last quarter of 2011, according to economists’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That would be the first drop since the second quarter of 2009 and would be in line with a Feb. 15 estimate.
“Buying the euro makes no sense,” said Marito Ueda, a senior managing director in Tokyo at FX Prime Corp., a currency margin company. “The European Central Bank is tied up with tackling the region’s sovereign-debt problem and has no room left to bolster the economy through monetary policy.”
The Australian dollar retreated 0.5 percent to $1.0615. Central bank Governor Glenn Stevensand his board left the overnight cash-rate target at 4.25 percent, the Reserve Bank of Australia said in a statement today, using a phrase he employed last month by calling policy “appropriate for the moment.” He repeated there is scope to cut rates if demand weakens.
The Markit iTraxx Australia index climbed 2.3 basis points to 145.3 basis points, Deutsche Bank AG prices show. The gauge is set for its highest close since Feb. 17, according to data provider CMA.
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