RED on the Dance Floor !!
"May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks and commodities slid, while the euro extended its longest slump versus the dollar since 2008, as the struggle by Greek political leaders to form a coalition underscored growing concern about the region’s debt crisis.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.9 percent to 1,357.85 at 10:09 a.m. in New York, extending its slump from an almost four-year high last month to more than 4 percent. Copper slipped 2.9 percent and oil retreated 1.6 percent as the S&P GSCI Index of commodities slumped for a fifth straight day. The euro depreciated for a seventh straight day, losing 0.5 percent to $1.2992. The 10-year Treasury yield fell three basis points to trade near a three-month low. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 1 percent, erasing yesterday’s gain.
Greece’s New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said he failed to form a coalition government following the weekend election, passing the opportunity to Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza party. Tsipras said he would forge ahead with plans to form a government of left-wing parties that would nationalize banks, repeal recent labor reforms and cancel the nation’s bailout accords.
“It’s the Greece situation and the implications that most risk-averse people are worried about,” said Michael Holland, chairman and founder of New York-based Holland & Co. His firm oversees more than $4 billion. “People are preparing for a shock that may or may not occur.”
Market Leaders
The S&P 500 dropped for the fourth time in five days as consumer-discretionary and commodity companies led losses in eight of 10 of the main industry groups. Home Depot Inc. tumbled 3 percent while Hewlett-Packard Co. and Bank of America Corp. lost 1.9 percent to lead the Dow Jones Industrial Average down as much as 96 points.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield fell for the third straight day, losing three basis points to 1.84 percent, near the lowest level since February 3. The government sells $32 billion of three-year notes, the first of three sales this week totaling $72 billion.
Three shares declined for each that gained in the Stoxx 600 as automakers, mining and financial-services companies led the retreat. Bankia SA slid 5.1 percent in Madrid as El Confidencial said the Spanish government will nationalize the lender. Royal KPN NV rallied 15 percent as America Movil SAB, the wireless carrier owned by the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim, offered 2.6 billion euros ($3.4 billion) to increase its stake.
The euro fell 0.6 percent versus the yen. The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against those of six trading partners, climbed 0.4 percent, advancing for the seventh consecutive day. The so-called Aussie weakened against 13 of its 16 major peers after the nation reported a larger-than-estimated trade deficit.
Commodities Decline
Oil in New York declined for a fifth day, the longest streak in three months, after Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al- Naimi said prices are too high. Copper traded in New York fell 2.9 percent to $3.6655 a pound. The London Metal Exchange was closed yesterday for a holiday.
Gasoline in New York fell for a seventh day. Prices at the pump fell, with the national average price for regular gasoline dropping 1 percent to $3.79 a gallon as of yesterday from a week earlier, the Energy Information Administration said in a report.
German power for 2013, Europe’s benchmark contract, slipped 0.2 percent to 49.45 euros a megawatt-hour after touching a record low of 49.35, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index sank 0.9 percent as benchmark indexes in Mexico and Brazil lost more than 1.7 percent and India’s Sensex sank 2.2 percent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong slid 0.5 percent as residential land sales dropped 92 percent in major Chinese cities. "
To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net ; Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net
Steven Morris CA (SA)
Mobie : 083 943 1858
Fax: 086 671 2498
E-Mail: steven@global.co.za
No comments:
Post a Comment