por admin » Vie Nov 26, 2010 11:12 am
Las bolsas retrocedian extendiendo su tercera semana a la baja mientras que las tensiones con Korea empeoraban y la preocupacion de que la crisis de la deuda Europea se agudizaria. El costo de asegurar la deuda de Portugal, Spain y Ireland subia a territorio record y el dolar se fortalecia.
Stocks Drop on Korea Tensions, Europe Debt Woes; Dollar Rises
By Justin Carrigan - Nov 26, 2010 10:08
Stocks dropped, extending a third straight weekly decline for the MSCI World Index, as tensions in Korea mounted and concern deepened that Europe’s debt crisis will worsen. The cost of insuring against defaults by Portugal, Spain and Ireland rose to records and the dollar strengthened.
The MSCI World slipped 1 percent at 10:06 a.m. in New York and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.6 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 1.3 percent and Hungary’s BUX Index slid 4 percent. Spanish 10-year bond yields climbed as high as 264 basis points above German bunds, a euro-era record. The dollar rose 0.9 percent to $1.3237 per euro, a two-month high. The S&P GSCI commodities index slipped 0.4 percent.
Almost $2 trillion has been erased from global stocks in the past three weeks amid concern Ireland’s debt crisis will spread to other European Union countries. S&P cut ratings on Irish banks today, reducing Anglo Irish Bank Corp.’s counterparty credit rating to junk. North Korea threatened a “shower of terrifying fire” as the USS Washington traveled to participate in drills with South Korea.
“Global markets continue to trade nervously and without clear conviction as the EU sovereign and Korean crisis fears remained front-page news,” Kit Juckes, head of foreign-exchange research at Societe Generale AG in London, wrote in a report. Korea keeps “the risk-aversion train rolling along.”
‘Black Friday’
The S&P 500 erased almost half of its 1.5 percent rally on Nov. 24. U.S. markets were closed yesterday for the Thanksgiving holiday and will end trading at 1 p.m. today. Retailers and shoppers have started Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year and a bellwether for the holiday season. Analysts’ estimates for holiday sales vary from little changed to increases of as much as 4.5 percent.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slumped 0.9 percent as almost five companies fell for every one that gained.
S&P lowered Anglo Irish Bank’s rating six levels to B, or junk, from BBB, citing concern about sovereign support for the lender. The bank remains on CreditWatch with “negative implications,” S&P said.
S&P also lowered the long-term counterparty credit rating on Allied Irish Banks Plc, Bank of Ireland Plc, and Irish Life & Permanent Plc by one level, and cut ratings on the senior and subordinated debt of the banks. Moody’s Investors Service placed the ratings of Irish lenders, including Anglo Irish, under review yesterday before a probable “multi-notch” downgrade of the sovereign.
Spanish Banks Slump
Spanish banks led declines that sent the IBEX 35 index down 1.5 percent. Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest lender, dropped 4.2 percent, while Bankinter SA sank 3.9 percent. BNP Paribas SA, France’s largest lender, slipped 4.5 percent. Rio Tinto Group lost 2.5 percent.
Hungarian stocks sank for a second day, with the benchmark BUX Index losing the most among equity benchmarks worldwide, after the government said citizens must move their privately managed pension assets to the state or lose 70 percent of their pension claim. Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy announced the policy on Nov. 24 as the most indebted eastern member of the EU steps up efforts to reduce the budget deficit.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.2 percent to its lowest level in a month. Hana Financial Group Inc., South Korea’s fourth-largest financial company, slumped 4.1 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.9 percent after Shanghai Securities News reported the government may cut its target for new lending next year. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. lost 1.6 percent.
Peripheral Debt
The yield on the Spanish 10-year bond jumped three basis points to 5.24 percent, bringing its increase over the past two weeks to 69 basis points. Credit-default swaps on Spain climbed 21 basis points to 320.5, while contracts on Portugal soared 31.5 basis points to 507.5 and those on Ireland increased 19 basis points to 599.5.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note dropped seven basis points to 2.85 percent. The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against those of six trading partners, jumped 1 percent to 80.516, set for its third consecutive weekly gain, the longest sequence of gains since May 14. The euro depreciated 0.8 percent to 111 yen.
Copper for delivery in three months dropped 1.8 percent to $8,192 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, declining for the first time in three days. Aluminum, nickel and zinc also retreated. Gold fell 1.5 percent to $1,354.47 an ounce and silver slid 4.1 percent to $26.45 an ounce. Brent crude for January settlement fell 1.4 percent to $84.89 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.