“Rodrigo Campos and Al Yoon” - GLOBAL MARKETS-World shares hit on Japan quake impact, oil down
March 15, 2011
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/14/markets-global-idUSN1416194920110314
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 dropped 1.2 percent, while emerging markets stocks .MSCIEF rose 0.7 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 116.33 points, or 0.97 percent, to 11,928.07. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX declined 14.37 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,289.91 and the Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC fell 23.51 points, or 0.87 percent, to 2,692.10.
Among shares most affected were those in the nuclear industry after explosions and damage at Japanese nuclear plants created doubts about the prospects of the industry. A second hydrogen explosion rocked a stricken nuclear power plant in Japan, sending authorities scrambling to avert a meltdown.
General Electric Co (GE.N) which has combined nuclear ventures with Hitachi Ltd (6501.T), fell 4 percent to $19.53.
Shares of luxury goods companies worldwide were also hit on worries about the impact from Japan, which is the third-largest luxury goods market, accounting for 11 percent of global luxury sales.
Among luxury goods companies, Tiffany (TIF.N) shares were down 4.3 percent and Coach (COH.N) was off 5.6 percent. Many European luxury stocks also fell. LVMH (LVMH.PA) was down 3 percent, Hermes (HRMS.PA) 2.8 percent, Richemont (CFR.VX) 2 percent, and PPR (PRTP.PA) , owner of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, 2.2 percent.
The iShares MSCI Japan index exchange-traded fund (EWJ.P) tumbled 8 percent, and the Global X Uranium ETF (URA.P) dropped nearly 18 percent
Brent crude LCOc1 edged down 0.3 percent to $113.50 a barrel, while U.S. crude oil CLc1 fell 0.8 percent to $100.35, pressured by expectations that oil demand in in Japan, the world's third-largest oil consumer, would fall as economic activity stalls following the quake. Conflicts in Libya and Yemen continued to be eyed by traders.
The dollar index .DXY, a gauge of the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.6 percent. The euro was up 0.65 percent at $1.3997 EUR= after European Union policymakers surprised markets over the weekend by reaching significant agreements ahead of the March 24-25 heads of state meeting.
The Japanese yen declined 0.35 percent against the dollar to 81.60 yen. The dollar rebounded from a four-month low against the yen as the Bank of Japan supplied banks with record funds to stabilize the stricken economy.
Most U.S. Treasury debt prices rose on Monday as investors looked for lower-risk assets while trying to gauge the eventual impact of the Japanese disaster and watching political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell 0.05 percentage point to 3.35 percent.
Spot gold prices rose $8.10, or 0.57 percent, to $1,425.10 an ounce. (Additional reporting by Edward Krudy and Steven C. Johnson, Robert Gibbons in New York and Japanese markets reporters; Editing by Leslie Adler)