July 20 (Bloomberg) --
"Asian stocks and the euro declined amid concern Europe’s debt crisis is dragging on global growth and as China pledged to keep curbs on its property market. Oil dropped from the highest level in nine weeks.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6 percent at 12:41 p.m. in Tokyo as Japan’s Topix Index lost 1.5 percent for its 10th drop in 11 days. The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.4 percent and futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.3 percent. The euro weakened against most of its 16 major peers and oil declined 0.7 percent. Corn rose 0.7 percent as a U.S. drought threatened supplies.
“For the market, the environment will continue to be quite challenging,” Steven Sun, an equity strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc., said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “Central banks globally are easing monetary policy to lower financial market volatility and avoid downside growth risk.”
China won’t relax property control policies and will instead seek to keep a “firm grip” on the real estate market to prevent a rebound in housing prices, Xinhua News Agency said. At more than half of 760 listed Chinese companies to report results, net income declined from a year earlier, worse than in the first six months of 2009, Societe Generale SA said yesterday.
Earnings at U.S. companies have exceeded analyst estimates at about 71 percent of the 110 S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly results so far, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profits are down 0.7 percent for the group.
IBM, GE
U.S. stocks rose for a third day yesterday as earnings at companies from International Business Machines Corp., the biggest computer-services provider, and EBay Inc., the largest Internet marketplace, beat estimates. General Electric Co., the world’s biggest maker of jet engines, power generation equipment and health-care imaging devices, will release its results today.
The euro declined 0.1 percent to $1.2266 per dollar. It was little changed at 96.406 yen and set to complete a fourth weekly drop. The Australian dollar traded 0.3 percent from the highest level in 11 weeks.
The dollar and yen rose against most of their 16 major counterparts as the drop in Asian equities and weaker-than- forecast U.S. data boosted demand for safer assets. U.S. initial jobless claims were higher than estimated, and measures of manufacturing activity and sales of existing homes missed estimates, reports yesterday showed.
Toyota, Toshiba
About seven stocks fell for every four that rose on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which is headed for a third weekly advance in four weeks. Carmaker Toyota Motor Corp., which depends on North America for a quarter of its sales, dropped 1.4 percent. Toshiba added 0.7 percent after chipmaking partner SanDisk Corp. posted profits that topped analysts’ estimates.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.2 percent as China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. advanced after mobile phones overtook desktop computers as the most popular Internet portals in China.
Oil traded at $92.06 a barrel after climbing to $92.66 yesterday, the highest close since May 16, on concern increased tension in the Middle East will threaten crude supplies. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, responsible for about 40 percent of global supplies, will curb exports by 0.9 percent to 23.78 million barrels a day in the four weeks to Aug. 4, compared with 24 million a month earlier, Oil Movements said yesterday in an e-mailed report. "
To contact the reporters on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net ;
Steven
Steven Morris CA (SA)
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