World stocks, oil falter as economy woes weigh

MARKETS-GLOBAL:World stocks, oil falter as economy woes weigh

new York  October 8, 2012, 23:17 IST

new York  10 08, 2012, 23:20 IST

 

World stocks and oil prices fell on Monday after the World Bank cut its growth forecast for China, emphasizing concerns about the prospects for the global economy.

Jitters over the euro zone debt crisis knocked the euro down from two-week highs even as euro zone finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg gave a unified defense of Spain, saying the country does not need financial help.

The downward revision from the World Bank, which cut its growth expectations for the East Asia and Pacific region, added to the cautious tone in stocks heading into corporate earnings season, which starts in the United States on Tuesday.

Recent warnings from large multinationals such as FedEx Corp , Hewlett-Packard Co and Caterpillar Inc have already made investors wary.

"There is just a lot of uncertainty out there, so any little thing right now tends to be a bit of a drag. Some of it is China, some of it may be concerns about Europe again," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois.

The World Bank said there was a risk the slowdown in China could worsen and last longer than many analysts have forecast. Still, the international lender expects China to have a soft landing as seen from the bank's revised 7.7 percent growth forecast for this year and 8.1 percent for next year.

The World Bank earlier this year had forecast 8.2 percent GDP growth for China in 2012 and 8.6 percent in 2013.

Wall Street was modestly lower in midday trading, while European shares <.FTEU3> ended down 1 percent. World shares as measured by the MSCI world equity index <.MIWD00000PUS> were down 0.7 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slipped 30.03 points, or 0.22 percent, to 13,580.12. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 6.21 points, or 0.43 percent, at 1,454.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 24.37 points, or 0.78 percent, to 3,111.82.

The announcement from the World Bank deflated some of last week's positive sentiment in the markets spurred by an unexpected drop in the U.S. unemployment rate.

China's role as the last major growth engine in the world economy amplified the impact of the World Bank's forecasts in foreign exchange and commodity markets.

Fears slower economic growth would curb oil demand initially sent Brent crude lower, but tension in the Middle East helped the commodity pare losses. Brent was down 27 cents $111.75 a barrel, while U.S. crude dropped 40 cents to $89.48 a barrel.

EURO DRAG

Uncertainty over the next steps in solving the euro zone's debt crisis, coupled with the weak economic outlook weighed on the euro, which was 0.5 percent lower at $1.2970.

Euro zone finance ministers said Spain was taking steps to overhaul its economy and did not need a bailout, at least for now.

Arriving at a meeting in Luxembourg to discuss Greece and Spain and to inaugurate the euro zone's permanent bailout mechanism, the ESM, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Madrid had made clear it wanted no help.

"Perhaps those types of comments are not necessarily positive for the euro in the sense that markets are still looking for a Spanish request as the next big step forward for Europe," said Vassili Serebriakov, currency strategist at Wells Fargo in New York.

The euro had hit two-week highs on Friday. The dollar was up 0.3 percent against a basket of currencies <.DXY>.

In Europe, fresh data showed investor sentiment had improved for a second consecutive month in October thanks largely to the monetary easing by central banks and Germany's backing for a new permanent bailout fund for the European currency bloc.

German export data for August also surprised by jumping 2.4 percent month-on-month, far outperforming expectations for a drop of 0.5 percent in a Reuters poll of 17 economists.