Asian Stocks Drop for Second Day - Summary 4 May 2012

A good summary for ASIA, follow on to Wall Street for today ?

"May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for a second day, bond risk in the region rose and South Korea’s won slid after Australia’s central bank cut its economic growth forecast and U.S. service industries expanded less than projected.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index slipped 0.6 percent as of 11:52 p.m. in Hong Kong. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.6 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed. The won retreated against all of its 16 major counterparts. New Zealand’s dollar added 0.1 percent, rebounding from the biggest drop in seven weeks. The Markit iTraxx Asia index, which tracks the cost of insuring bonds against default, climbed to a one-week high.

Australia’s central bank cut its growth estimate by half a percentage point to 3 percent for 2012, citing weak labor and housing markets. The Institute for Supply Management said yesterday that its U.S. non-manufacturing index fell to a four- month low of 53.5 in April. American employers added 160,000 positions last month and the jobless rate remained at a three- year low of 8.2 percent, according to Bloomberg surveys before the government releases data today.

“It’s going to be a slower, tougher slog and it’s going to be periodically interrupted by risk and news out of Europe,” Russ Koesterich, global chief investment strategist for the IShares unit of BlackRock Inc., which oversees $3.68 trillion, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Energy Shares Slump

About the same number of stocks rose and fell in the MSCI Asia gauge that excludes Japan’s shares. The equity benchmark has risen 0.6 percent this week, poised for the first advance in five weeks. Energy producers lost 1.4 percent, the biggest drop among 10 industries in the index. South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.5 percent. Japanese markets are closed for a holiday.

Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust, Singapore’s biggest industrial property trust, lost 3.8 percent after selling new shares.

The euro was set for the biggest weekly decline in a month amid concern changes in leadership at elections in France and Greece this weekend will derail the region’s austerity efforts. The currency was little changed at $1.3157 today. It has lost 0.7 percent this week.

Asia Bond Risk

The cost of insuring Asia-Pacific bonds from default increased, according to traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan rose 3 basis points to 166.5 basis points, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc prices show. The gauge is set for its highest close since April 27, according to data provider CMA.

Oil rose 0.1 percent to $102.68 a barrel in New York. Copper for delivery in three months added 0.3 percent to $8,253.25 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.

“The U.S. data was quite disappointing and it seems like it’s now catching up with the rest of the world,” said Stan Shamu, a market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, a provider of trading services in stocks, bonds and commodities.

To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net ; Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net "


Steven
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