Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Shares to struggle as markets fall

WELLINGTON: Asian stocks are set for a weak start on Tuesday, Oct 5 as global equity markets fell on lingering concerns about the global economy and the burden of debt in some euro zone countries.

The main Wall Street indexes fell between 0.7 percent and 1.1 percent, as investors took profits in commodity stocks which had rallied on Friday.

Sluggish data on home sales and factory orders, and fears over euro zone debt were also cited as reasons for the selloff, with trade light as the market was seen reluctant to chase the market higher after September's gains.

TECHNOLOGY [] stocks <.IXIC> were the chief decliners, with Microsoft Corp down 1.9 percent to $23.91 after Goldman Sachs downgraded the software maker citing slow sales.

Asian stocks listed on Wall Street <.BKAS> fell 0.83 percent.

British <.FTSE> shares fell 0.7 percent ahead of key data later in the week, while European <.FTEU3> shares slipped 0.6 percent, the sixth straight session of losses.

The euro fell from a six-month high amid fresh concern about euro zone banks, while the greenback was close to a 15-year low against the yen .

Japanese markets are seen making a flat start, with Nikkei futures traded in Chicago <2NKc1> unchanged from the last closing level in Osaka .

Australian shares are seen starting lower, with trading likely to be subdued ahead of a central bank rate decision.

Share index futures fell 0.5 percent to 4,614, a 11.3 point discount to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO>. - Reuters


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