U.S. Stock Futures, Dollar Decline as Credit Concern Deepens

By Kyung Bok Cho

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures dropped on concern the credit crisis will topple more banks and slow global growth. The dollar declined against the yen after Asian shares plunged, prompting investors to cut holdings of higher-yielding assets funded in Japan.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December lost 24.10, or 2.4 percent, to 982.00 at 2:58 p.m. Tokyo time. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 221, or 2.3 percent, to 9,324. Nasdaq-100 futures dropped 28.25, or 2.1 percent, to 1,309.25.

Asian stocks tumbled today, with Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average falling the most since October 1987. Indonesia halted stock trading after the benchmark lost 10 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell below 16,000 for the first time in two years.


Yesterday, the S&P 500 slumped below 1,000 for the first time since 2003, on speculation banks and real-estate companies are running short of money as the credit crisis worsens.

Japan's currency rose to 99.96 per dollar at 6:30 a.m. in London from 101.47 late yesterday in New York. It reached 99.87, the highest since April 1. It's the first time in six months the yen gained beyond 100 per dollar.

To contact the reporter for this story: Kyung Bok Cho in Seoul at kcho7@bloomberg.net