WELLINGTON: Asian stocks face another rocky start on Wednesday as persistent worries about the euro zone's debt problems knocked confidence, sending investors scurrying for safety and away from equities.
Wall Street, back from a long weekend, resumed its losing streak, with the main indexes closing between 0.3 percent and 0.9 percent lower, albeit off their lows.
Major banking stocks were the biggest hit, as the euro debt woes added to fears about the health of a sector, which faces legal action by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over subprime mortgage-backed bonds.
The CBOE Volatility Index, or Vix, a measure of expected market turbulence, posted its biggest gain in nearly two weeks, climbing 9.4 percent to 37.08.
Asian stocks traded on Wall St fell 1.95 percent.
European stocks closed down 0.7 percent, an improvement on Monday's 4 percent slide. British shares bucked the losing trend in a volatile session, as bargain hunting lifted miners and energy stocks.
The MSCI all country world equity index was down 0.9 percent on the day.
Nervous investors channeled cash into less-risky assets as doubts resurfaced over Italian and Greek willingness to implement tough budget and debt measures demanded by other euro zone members, while Germany hardened its stand against giving more aid.
The Swiss National Bank added to the nervous climate by saying it set a limit of 1.20 francs to the euro to reduce the damage to the export-oriented Swiss economy from safe haven flows.
Japanese stocks, which closed at a 2-1/2 year low on Tuesday, may not fall much further given U.S. stock weakness had already been anticipated. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago are 120 points above the close in Osaka.
Friday's settlement of futures and options have also weighed on the Japanese market.
Australian stocks may also manage to shake off the negative mood and edge higher. Share price index futures are up 1.5 percent to sit at a 52.5 premium to the close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index. ' Reuters
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Wall Street, back from a long weekend, resumed its losing streak, with the main indexes closing between 0.3 percent and 0.9 percent lower, albeit off their lows.
Major banking stocks were the biggest hit, as the euro debt woes added to fears about the health of a sector, which faces legal action by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over subprime mortgage-backed bonds.
The CBOE Volatility Index, or Vix, a measure of expected market turbulence, posted its biggest gain in nearly two weeks, climbing 9.4 percent to 37.08.
Asian stocks traded on Wall St fell 1.95 percent.
European stocks closed down 0.7 percent, an improvement on Monday's 4 percent slide. British shares bucked the losing trend in a volatile session, as bargain hunting lifted miners and energy stocks.
The MSCI all country world equity index was down 0.9 percent on the day.
Nervous investors channeled cash into less-risky assets as doubts resurfaced over Italian and Greek willingness to implement tough budget and debt measures demanded by other euro zone members, while Germany hardened its stand against giving more aid.
The Swiss National Bank added to the nervous climate by saying it set a limit of 1.20 francs to the euro to reduce the damage to the export-oriented Swiss economy from safe haven flows.
Japanese stocks, which closed at a 2-1/2 year low on Tuesday, may not fall much further given U.S. stock weakness had already been anticipated. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago are 120 points above the close in Osaka.
Friday's settlement of futures and options have also weighed on the Japanese market.
Australian stocks may also manage to shake off the negative mood and edge higher. Share price index futures are up 1.5 percent to sit at a 52.5 premium to the close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index. ' Reuters
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