A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – Wall Street was closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving public holiday.
On Wednesday, its last trading day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 236.17 points (2.05 per cent) on Wednesday to finish at 11,257.55.
The broader S&P 500-stock index dropped 26.25 points (2.21 per cent) to 1161.79, while the tech-rich Nasdaq slid 61.20 points (2.43 per cent) to 2460.08.
LONDON – European stock markets on Thursday closed mostly lower, slipping back from a modest technical rebound made as a strong survey of German business confidence helped sentiment amid the eurozone debt gloom.
Dealers said investors waited hopefully but got no clear lead from a French, German and Italian leaders’ meeting after a failed German bond auction on Wednesday shook confidence in the safe haven status of Europe’s biggest economy.
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy wanted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to drop her refusal to allow the European Central Bank (ECB) to become a lender of last resort for weaker eurozone countries but once again failed to get any movement.
In the absence of any breakthrough, the markets were left only with the Ifo economic institute’s closely watched business sentiment index which rose to 106.6 in November from 106.4 in October, the first gain in four months and contrary to analyst forecasts for a fall.
In London, the FTSE-100 index of top companies closed down 0.24 per cent at 5,127.57 points.
In Paris, the CAC-40 was virtually unchanged at 2,822.25 points while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 shed 0.54 per cent to 5,428.11 points.
Milan was flat and Madrid down 0.23 per cent after choppy trade.
The euro continued weaker at $US1.3327, coming off a fresh six-week low of $US1.3316, rattled after a sale of German 10-year bonds flopped with bids of only 3.9 billion euros ($A5.35 billion) for the six-billion-euros of 10-year bonds on offer.
The euro did get an early bounce on the German data to above $US1.34 but then fell back steadily after Merkel insisted again that the ECB had to stick to its main task, controlling inflation, rather than help out weaker eurozone states who have flouted the bloc’s fiscal rules, analysts said.
A sharp spike in Italian borrowing costs added to the negative tone, with the rate on the country’s 10-year bonds soaring back above 7.0 per cent, a level considered ultimately unsustainable.
In another fresh sign that all was not well among the eurozone’s peripheral nations, Fitch cut its rating on bailed-out Portugal to junk-bond status at BB+, blaming its high level of debt and weak economic outlook.
HONG KONG – Asian shares were mixed as fears about Europe’s debt crisis deepened after Germany, considered the pillar of the eurozone, failed to sell all its bonds in an auction.
While some markets managed to eke out small gains thanks to bargain-buying, the ongoing woes in Europe as well as the slowing global economy pushed investors to the sidelines.
Tokyo fell 1.80 per cent, or 149.56 points, to 8,165.18 as it played catch-up with regional losses on Wednesday, when it was closed for a public holiday.
Sydney slipped 0.17 per cent, or 6.8 points, to 4,044.2.
But Hong Kong gained 0.40 per cent, or 70.67 points, to 17,935.10 and Seoul closed 0.67 per cent, or 11.96 points, higher at 1,795.06 while Shanghai was up 0.10 per cent, or 2.48 points, at 2,397.55.
Singapore closed flat, edging up 0.58 points to 2,677.15.
Wilmar International fell 1.37 per cent to Sg$5.06 and City Developments sank 2.40 per cent to Sg$9.36.
WELLINGTON – Wellington fell 0.84 per cent, or 27.57 points, to 3,241.10.
Telecom network provider Chorus, which listed on Wednesday, rose 2.8 per cent to NZ$3.30, while its former parent Telecom Corp was down 1.0 per cent at NZ$2.01 and Fletcher Building slipped 0.3 per cent to NZ$5.90.
