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In Asian Equity Markets stocks declined, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index posting its biggest drop in a month, as companies from Acer Inc. to Tohoku Electric Power Co. reported losses and China vowed to maintain property lending curbs.Acer, the world's fourth-largest computer maker, fell 2 percent in Taipei. Tohoku Electric slumped 6.4 percent after the Japanese utility reported a bigger-than-expected loss. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and China Overseas Land Investment Ltd. led mainland lenders and developers lower after Premier Wen Jiabao said China will "firmly" maintain restrictions on the real-estate market.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 2.8 percent to 121.20 as of 5:25 p.m. in Tokyo, the most since Sept. 22.Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.7 percent. The gauge earlier advanced as much as 1.1 percent after the Japanese government sold the yen to weaken the currency, which had gained to a post-World War II high against the dollar. A stronger yen cuts the value of overseas earnings for Japan's exporters.Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.3 percent. South Korea's Kospi Index fell 1.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index declined 0.8 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite slid 0.2 percent.
In Currency Markets yen dropped by the most in three years against the dollar as Japan stepped into foreign-exchange markets to weaken the currency for the third time this year after its gains to a postwar record threatened exporters.The euro fell the most in four weeks versus the dollar amid speculation Europe's leaders will struggle to garner financial support for their revamped crisis-fighting plan. The yen weakened against all of the more than 150 currencies that Bloomberg tracks. Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi ordered the intervention at 10:25 a.m. Tokyo time because "speculative moves" in the currency failed to reflect Japan's economic fundamentals. The dollar rose against all its major peers.The Japanese currency sank 3.2 percent to 78.24 yen per dollar at 8:30 a.m. London time, after reaching 79.53 for the biggest intraday drop since October 2008.The yen slid 2.2 percent to 109.62 per euro and weakened 1.9 percent to 82.69 per Australian dollar. The euro fell 0.9 percent to $1.4020. Switzerland's franc was little changed at 1.2204 per euro.
In Commodities Markets oil fell in New York on speculation demand will falter after the biggest monthly gain in more than two years and a surge in the dollar. Brent's premium to U.S. crude slid to a four-month low.Futures fell as much as 1.2 percent after Japan weakened the yen for the third time this year and a technical indicator signaled prices may have risen too fast. A stronger dollar typically curbs demand for commodities from holders of other currencies. Crude prices at $100 a barrel would be unsustainable, according to the former head of the International Energy Agency. Oil is up 17 percent in October, the biggest monthly increase since May 2009.Crude for December delivery dropped as much as $1.07 to $92.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $92.61 at 3:30 p.m.Brent crude for December settlement was at $109.12 a barrel, down 0.7 percent, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
In US Equity Markets stocks finished mostly higher on Friday after moving between small gains and losses throughout the trading session. All three major benchmark indexes posted gains for the week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average scoring its fifth-straight weekly.The Dow climbed 22.56 points, or 0.2%, to end at 12,231.11 to log a third-straight winning session. The S&P 500 rose 0.5 point, or 0.04%, to end at 1,285.09 while the Nasdaq Composite slipped by 1.48 points, or 0.1%, to 2,737.15, with both indexes ending 3.8% higher for the week.
In Bond Markets Treasuries advanced, trimming the steepest monthly loss in 2011, on speculation a U.S. report this week will show jobs growth slowed in October and will be short of what's needed to cut the unemployment rate.The 10-year yield fell three basis points to 2.29 percent as of 8:00 a.m. in London.Japan's 10-year bonds fell for a third day, pushing the yield up three basis points to 1.04 percent.The gap between two- and 10-year rates widened to 2 percentage points from this year's low of 1.47 percentage points on Oct. 4. The five-year average is 1.76 percentage points.
