July 10 (Bloomberg) --
"European stock futures dropped and Asian shares fell for a fourth day as Chinese trade data added to signs of slowing economic growth. The Australian dollar weakened and oil slumped as Norway halted an energy strike.
Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index declined 0.1 percent at 7:05 a.m. in London, while those for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.3 percent. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.4 percent. The so-called Aussie retreated against 14 of its 16 major peers. The euro fell toward the lowest level in two years before reports forecast to show manufacturing is shrinking in France and Italy. Oil fell 1.3 percent in New York, while corn retreated from its highest level in 10 months.
China’s imports rose less than anticipated in June while export growth slowed, data from the customs bureau showed today. European governments will jump-start as much as 100 billion euros ($123 billion) in loans to shore up Spain’s banks, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said after chairing a nine-hour meeting of euro-region finance ministers.
“The market is getting even more cautious as people worry about a further deterioration in the macro-economic picture,” Benjamin Tam, who helps manage about $1.5 billion at IG Investment in Hong Kong, said in a phone interview. “The trade data was pretty weak and weaker than the market expected. I don’t see a significant change in the macro environment any time soon, and we’re waiting for bigger collective measures from the authorities.”
China Concern
Commodity producers were among the biggest losers on MSCI’s Asian equities gauge today, with BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, dropping 0.9 percent in Sydney and Newcrest Mining Ltd. falling the most in three weeks. Stocks in Asia tumbled 1.5 percent yesterday as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the nation’s economy faces “relatively large” downward pressure.
China’s imports increased 6.3 percent last month from a year earlier, compared with the 11 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News economist survey. Exports slowed to 11.3 percent from 15.3 percent. Business confidence in Australia, which counts China as its biggest trading partner, fell to a 10-month low in June, a private survey showed today.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index sank 0.5 percent in Hong Kong and Taiwan’s Taiex Index fell 0.8 percent. Today’s data add to signs of flagging momentum in the world’s biggest exporter as Europe’s debt crisis curbs foreign sales and China’s property controls restrain domestic demand.
Juncker told reporters 30 billion euros will be lent to Spanish banks by the end of July with the goal of eventually using the euro-area bailout fund to recapitalize lenders directly instead of saddling the nation’s government with the debt.
EU Pragmatic
“It’s positive progress showing that the European Union is moving towards a banking union,” Norman Chan, head of investment at Calibre Asset Management Ltd., a unit of National Australia Bank Ltd., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “It shows the EU is being pragmatic.”
Data today may show French industrial production dropped 1 percent in May from the previous month, when it climbed 1.5 percent, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. A separate poll showed industrial output in Italy may have fallen 0.6 percent in the same period after weakening 1.9 percent in April.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signaled the bank may be open to another interest-rate cut if the economic outlook warrants it, when he addressed lawmakers in Brussels yesterday. The ECB lowered the main refinancing rate to a record 0.75 percent and cut the deposit rate to zero on July 5.
Dollar Parity
The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.2289, while the Australian currency depreciated 0.3 percent to $1.0174.
“The concern is that slower Chinese growth is going to be a negative factor for Australia,” said Todd Elmer, head of Group-of-10 currency strategy for Asia excluding Japan at Citigroup Inc. in Singapore.
The Aussie will weaken to end a year below $1 for the first time since 2009 as the slowing global economy damps prices for the nation’s commodity exports, according to National Australia Bank Ltd., the currency’s most accurate forecaster.
Oil dropped to $84.88 a barrel. The Norwegian government ordered compulsory arbitration, preventing a lockout of platform workers that was scheduled to start at midnight yesterday. Norway pumped 1.63 million barrels of oil a day in May, or about 1.8 percent of global consumption, data from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate show.
Corn futures dropped 1.1 percent to $7.22 a bushel in Chicago after gaining yesterday to the highest level since September as drought damaged the U.S. crop.
About 40 percent of the corn crop was in good or excellent condition as of July 8, down from 48 percent a week earlier and the lowest level for this time of year since a drought in 1988, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Drought now covers more than half the contiguous 48 U.S. states.
To contact the reporters on this story: Richard Frost in Hong Kong at rfrost4@bloomberg.net ; Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net "
Steven
Steven Morris CA (SA)
Mobie : 083 943 1858
Fax: 086 671 2498
E-Mail: steven@global.co.za
Website: www.stevenmorris.co.za
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