STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 3 March 2014

[Ghost Dog]

1. Asia Stocks Fall Amid Ukraine Tension, China Economy Data

Asian stocks fell and measures of equity volatility surged amid escalating geopolitical tension over Ukraine and after an official gauge of Chinese manufacturing dropped to an eight-month low.

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s largest mining firm, lost 1.2 percent in Sydney as raw-materials shares posted the largest drop among the regional index’s 10 industry groups. Speco Co. (013810), a South Korean defense contractor, gained 1.2 percent in Seoul after the defense ministry said North Korea fired two short-range missiles off the country’s east coast today. Mazda Motor Corp., an automaker that gets 73 percent of sales overseas, tumbled 4.5 percent in Tokyo as the yen touched an almost one-month high against the dollar.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 1.2 percent to 136.17 as of 9:51 a.m. in Hong Kong. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost as much as 1.1 percent, the biggest decline in a month, after the equity gauge rose to a record at the end of February. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he is preparing to visit Kiev as Russia seized control of Ukraine’s Crimea region, intensifying one of the most serious standoffs since the Cold War ended.

“The immediate concern for markets is the possibility of escalation,” Ric Spooner, Sydney-based chief analyst at CMC Markets, said in an e-mail. “While most consider it unlikely that the West will be drawn into this conflict other than diplomatically, some hedging and de-risking of portfolios is not unusual in these situations.” ...

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-03/asia-stocks-fall-amid-ukraine-tension-china-economy-data.html