Economic Calendar

Monday, February 27, 2012

Stocks Decline From Seven-Month High as U.S. Futures Fall; Yen Strengthens

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By Stephen Kirkland and Lynn Thomasson - Feb 27, 2012 8:53 PM GMT+0700

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Nader Naeimi, a Sydney-based senior strategist at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., talks about the impact of Australia's ruling party leadership vote on the nation's markets, the outlook for Asian stocks and his investment strategy. Naeimi also discusses the European debt crisis. He speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Lorraine Tan, director of Asia equity research at Standard & Poor’s, talks about regional stock markets. She speaks from Singapore with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Francis Lun, managing director at Lyncean Holdings Ltd., talks about his forecast for Hong Kong property company earnings and the outlook for Hong Kong stocks. Lun also discusses HSBC Holdings PLC and Standard Chartered PLC's financial results. He speaks with Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)


Stocks (MXWD) fell from the highest level in almost seven months as the Group of 20 nations rebuffed calls from the euro area to boost international lending resources. Brent crude snapped a five-day rally and the yen strengthened.

The MSCI All-Country World Index slid 0.5 percent at 8:50 a.m. in New York, after closing last week at the highest since Aug. 1. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fell 0.5 percent. Brent oil retreated from a nine-month high. The yen gained against all 16 of its most-traded peers and the yield on the 10- year U.S. Treasury note decreased four basis points to 1.93 percent. The cost of insuring against default on European corporate debt rose for the first time in three days.

The G-20 told Europe to come up with more financial firepower before they will consider lending outside support. The world economy is “not out of the danger zone” amid fragile financial systems, high public and private debt and rising oil prices, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said. The European Central Bank will offer unlimited three-year funds, with banks set to take 470 billion euros ($629 billion), according to the median of 28 estimates in a Bloomberg survey, compared with 489 billion euros at the tender Dec. 21.

“Europe still has work to do in terms of the great bailout and there seems to be some things various parties can’t agree upon, so that’s winding down on the market at the moment,” said Matt Riordan, who helps manage $6.8 billion in Sydney at Paradice Investment Management Pty.

Nokia Slides

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) retreated 0.9 percent. Nokia Oyj sank 6.4 percent as the world’s third-largest smartphone maker by shipments revealed its latest devices at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S retreated 3.6 percent after saying its container line, the world’s largest, will post a loss again this year, depressed by lower freight rates and slower market growth. Air France-KLM Group and Deutsche Lufthansa AG slipped more than 3 percent.

The Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of contracts on 50 mostly junk-rated companies climbed 14 basis points to 587.5, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The retreat in S&P 500 futures indicated that the benchmark measure will snap a two-day advance. A report from the National Association of Realtors due today at 10:00 a.m. in Washington may show the number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes rose 1 percent in January. Reports later this week may show manufacturing accelerated for a fourth straight month in February, consumer confidence improved and Americans picked up the pace of spending a month earlier, according to Bloomberg surveys of economists.

Yen Rallies

The yen appreciated 0.8 percent against the dollar and climbed 1.2 percent versus the euro. The 17-nation currency slipped 0.4 percent to $1.3390. The Dollar Index (DXY) rose 0.3 percent.

Brent crude decreased 1 percent to $124.21 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, after gaining 4.9 percent last week. Copper for delivery in three months fell 0.9 percent on the London Metal Exchange. The S&P GSCI (SPGSCI) gauge of 24 commodities fell for the first time in eight sessions, declining 0.6 percent, after touching a nine-month high on Feb. 24.

Natural gas was little changed today, leaving this year’s decline at 15 percent. Warren Buffett, who bought about $2 billion in bonds of power company Energy Future Holdings Corp., said the investment is at risk of losing all its value after natural gas prices fell. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. wrote down the debt by $390 million last year, following a $1 billion impairment in 2010, the billionaire said in his annual letter to shareholders posted Feb. 25 on the company’s website.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) fell 1 percent, after reaching a six-month high on Feb. 24. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese shares listed in Hong Kong fell 1.3 percent and India’s Sensex index lost 2.7 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 1.4 percent.

To contact the reporters on this story: Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stuart Wallace at swallace6@bloomberg.net




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