A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – Falling banking stocks dragged the main US market indices down on Thursday amid worry about fallout from a Greek default, but Apple and Netflix helped the Nasdaq gain for a fourth straight day.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 40.72 points (0.35 per cent) to 11,478.13 in closing trade.
The S&P 500, a broader measure of the markets, fell 3.59 (0.30 per cent) to 1,203.66, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 15.51 points (0.60 per cent) to 2,620.24.
JPMorgan Chase lost 4.7 per cent despite reporting better-than-expected third-quarter figures, with profits falling only slightly thanks to a $US1.9 billion ($A1.87 billion) risk accounting revision.
Acknowledging a “challenging investment banking and capital markets environment,” the bank reported a profit of $US4.3 billion, down four per cent from the same quarter in the previous year.
LONDON – European stocks have fallen, dragged down by the banking sector on heightened fears over lender exposure to the eurozone debt crisis and the potential impact of more recapitalisation.
Investors shrugged off approval by Slovakia of the revamped eurozone rescue fund and focused more on a European Central Bank warning of downside risks to the world economy.
At close on Thursday, London’s FTSE-100 was down 0.71 per cent to 5,403.38 points, Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index lost 1.33 per cent to 5,914.84 points and Paris’s CAC 40 ended the day down 1.33 per cent to 3,186.94 points.
Elsewhere in Europe, Milan shares were down 3.7 per cent, Madrid fell 0.92 per cent and Amsterdam dropped 0.92 per cent.
The euro edged down to $US1.3732, compared with $US1.3788 late in New York on Wednesday and the dollar fell against the yen to 76.88 yen from 77.24 yen on Wednesday.
European bank shares plunged after the French finance ministry warned that European lenders exposed to Greek debt will probably face greater losses than those already agreed to.
Ahead of a weekend meeting of G20 finance ministers in Paris, France said banks would probably be forced to write off more Greek debt than the 21 per cent proposed in a July eurozone accord on a second bailout for Athens.
In their pre-G20 briefing, French officials said EU states would set up a mechanism to allow banks in difficulty to seek assistance but that the statutes of the European Financial Stability Facility would not change.
Banks have been asked to increase their core capital reserves so that they will be better able to cope with any losses on their holdings of bonds issued by weak eurozone states. French banks have a large exposure to Greece.
HONG KONG – Asian markets rose, taking a lead from Wall Street and extending a recent rally on hopes that eurozone leaders will be able to hammer out a solution to the region’s sovereign debt crisis.
Tokyo rose 0.97 per cent, or 84.35 points, to 8,823.25, Sydney gained 0.96 per cent, or 40.2 points, to 4,244.5 and Seoul ended 0.75 per cent, or 13.60 points, higher at 1,823.10.
Hong Kong gained 2.34 per cent, or 428.35 points, to 18,757.81. The index has surged more than 15 per cent in the past six sessions, after it hit a two-and-a-half-year low.
Shanghai was closed 0.78 per cent, or 18.79 points, higher at 2,438.79 despite weak export data and with dealers awaiting Friday’s release of inflation data for September.
CPI – the main gauge of inflation – rose 6.2 per cent year-on-year in August, down from a more than three-year high of 6.5 per cent in July.
Regional market sentiment was lifted by news that Slovakia’s political parties had agreed to hold a new vote this week that could see the expansion of the eurozone emergency fund approved by Friday.
In Shanghai dealers sent the composite index higher despite data showing the politically sensitive trade surplus contracted to $14.51 billion in September from $17.8 billion the previous month.
The figures, highlighting falling demand in the United States and Europe, will likely stoke fears over China’s vast manufacturing sector, which employs millions of workers and has been contracting for several months.
The Australian dollar got a boost after official data showed the country’s unemployment rate decreased to 5.2 per cent in September from 5.3 per cent in August.
The Aussie dollar surged to 102.30 US cents from 101.50 just before the report before easing in the afternoon to 101.80.
WELLINGTON – Wellington closed down 0.55 per cent, or 18.44 points, at 3,306.68.