Asia bucks the trend

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian steelmakers' shares rose, led by Posco, after Nippon Steel Corp increased its full-year profit forecast to a record and Hyundai Steel Co said it's considering raising rates for its main product.

Rio Tinto Group advanced to a six week-high on speculation rivals BHP Billiton and Cia. Vale do Rio Doce may make a joint bid. Samsung Electronics Co, the world's second-largest chipmaker, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co led electronics makers higher as investors judged recent declines excessive given the resilience of the global economy.

"The beauty of cyclicals is that if you can buy them at a very distressed level, then you can enjoy them on the way up," said Henry Chan, who helps oversee more than $10 billion of equities in Hong Kong as Baring Asset Management (Asia) Ltd.'s head of Asia investments. "What you probably have to bet on is better-than-expected global growth."

Europe
Stocks in Europe fell after a report showed German manufacturing orders dropped the most in at least 16 years in July. Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Barclays and BNP Paribas led a decline by banks.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slipped 0.3 per cent to 371.44 at 12:02 p.m. in London. The Stoxx 50 lost 0.2 per cent, while the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region, retreated 0.3 per cent.

"Everybody is quite nervous and waiting for something to hold onto," said Walter Harecker, a fund manager at Constantia Privatbank AG in Vienna, which oversees $30 billion. "Markets are under pressure. The German economy has helped the euro region in the past quarters. If the data points in the opposite direction, that would affect" all of Europe.

US
US stock-index futures dropped on speculation a report on Thursday may show growth in service industries slowed for a second month in August.

Tibco Software fell in Europe after Merrill Lynch & Co downgraded shares of the software maker, which reported earnings that missed analysts' estimates yesterday. Countrywide Financial Corp declined after the mortgage lender cut jobs.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September lost 2.7 to 1,473.9 as of 11:55 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased 31 to 13,312. Nasdaq-100 Index futures dropped 2.5 to 2,000.75.