STOCK MARKET WATCH - Thursday, 5 January 2012

[Ghost Dog]

8. Asia Stocks, Aussie Drop on Europe Concern

Asian stocks (MXAP) and the Australian dollar weakened after Italy’s biggest bank said it needs to raise more capital, spurring concern that the European debt crisis is worsening.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) fell 0.3 percent as of 9:56 a.m. in Tokyo after climbing 2.4 percent in the past two days. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed. The so- called Aussie retreated 0.4 percent to $1.0332. The euro was little changed at $1.2933 after yesterday’s 0.8 percent decline. Gold and oil were also little changed.

“Problems sparked by the European debt crisis are reigniting and people in the market have reaffirmed that the situation has not changed,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $600 million in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “That’s weakening the euro and hurting exporters with a heavy reliance on Europe.”

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-05/asia-stocks-aussie-drop-on-europe-concern.html

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