STOCK MARKET WATCH - Thursday, 5 January 2012

[Ghost Dog]

16. Asian Stocks Fall as France Debt Sale Raises European Debt-Crisis Concerns

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks (MXAP) retreated, snapping a two-day rally, after Australia’s services industry shrank and the euro weakened ahead of a French bond auction today of as much as 8 billion euros ($10.4 billion).

Sony Corp. (6759), a Japanese electronics maker that gets 21 percent of its sales from Europe, fell 2.2 percent as a weaker euro cut the earnings outlook for exporters. Elpida Memory Inc. sank slumped 7.4 percent on a report the chipmaker is seeking financial support from other companies as it faces $1.6 billion in bond redemptions and loan payments. National Australia Bank (NAB) Ltd. led declines among Australian lenders on a report that the country’s services industry contracted in December...

... The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.6 percent to 115.76 as of 5:50 p.m. in Tokyo, with five stocks falling for every three that rose. The measure climbed 2.4 percent in the first two trading days of this year as manufacturing growth from the U.S., Australia, China and India added to signs the global economy may withstand Europe’s debt crisis.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) lost 0.8 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1.1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index fell 0.1 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.5 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.4 percent today. The gauge closed little changed yesterday in New York, paring an earlier loss of as much as 0.7 percent, as improving sales at retailers and carmakers helped offset lower- than-forecast factory orders.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-05/asian-stocks-fall-snap-two-day-rally-amid-signs-europe-crisis-worsening.html