ASIA
Asian stocks dropped this week, with utilities and materials producers leading declines, after China manufacturing data signaled persisting weakness in the world’s second-largest economy.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 0.7% to 138.17 this week. The preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics for April signaled a fourth month of contraction in Chinese factory activity.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) declined 2.9% this week. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in Hong Kong slipped 2.8%, while the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index Index lost 2.4%.
South Korea’s Kospi index slid 1.6%. Taiwan’s Taiex index sank 2.1%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.4%. India’s BSE Sensex index rose 0.3%.
Japan’s Topix lost 0.3%. A report yesterday showed Tokyo’s consumer prices rose 2.7% from a year earlier in April, the biggest jump since 1992, pumped up by a sales-tax increase and a year of unprecedented stimulus from the Bank of Japan.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.4% to its highest since June 2008 in a week shortened by holidays. The nation’s core consumer prices gained less than economists forecast last quarter, allowing the central bank to extend a period of steady interest rates.
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index advanced 1%. The central bank raised interest rates for the second time in two months as the economic recovery gathers pace, and said it will assess the extent to which currency gains curb inflation.
Anhui Conch Cement Co., China’s biggest producer of the building material, dropped 6%. Kansai Electric Power Co. slid 7% after saying it may take a long time to restart its nuclear reactors due to safety precautions. China Mobile Ltd. fell 4% after the world’s biggest phone company posted its third straight drop in quarterly profit. Largan Precision Co., a supplier of lenses used in iPhones and iPads, surged 17% to a record in Taipei after Apple Inc. beat estimates.
EUROPE
Continuing concerns about the fallout from the Ukraine-Russia standoff added pressure on European stocks on Friday, with German equities bearing the brunt of tension.
The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.8% to close at 333.50, trimming its weekly advance to 0.3%.
The losses came as U.S. President Barack Obama consulted with key European leaders on the Ukraine crisis, warning Russia that they are prepared to proceed with more significant sanctions against the country.
The consultation came after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry late Thursday accused Russia of violating its commitment to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine.
In response to the crisis-fueled volatility on financial markets, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services on Friday cut Russia’s credit rating to one notch above junk.
Meanwhile, Russia’s central bank on Friday bumped up its key interest rate by a half-percentage point to 7.5%.
Among other European benchmarks, Germany’s DAX 30 was hit hard, down 1.5% to 9,401.55, as the country has a deep goods-trading relationship with Russia. For the week, the German benchmark lost 0.1%.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 gave up 0.3% to 6,685.69, but closed out the week 0.9% higher.
France’s CAC 40 lost 0.8% to 4,443.63, reducing its weekly advance to 0.3%.
U.K. stocks slipped from their highest level in more than six weeks as drops in AstraZeneca Plc (AZN) and HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) outweighed acquisition speculation.
The FTSE 100 Index (UKX) lost 17.31 points, or 0.3%, to 6,685.69 at the close of trading in London, paring this week’s gain to 0.9%.
U.K. data showed retail sales excluding automobiles slipped 0.4% in March, following a revised 1.3% gain in February. Economists had predicted a drop of 0.5%.
AstraZeneca fell 2.3% after closing at a record yesterday. HSBC slid 1.7% as Morgan Stanley downgraded the lender. Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) declined 2.5% after saying it abandoned a well off the coast of Mauritania. Tate & Lyle Plc (TATE) rose the most since November 2011 amid reports that Bunge Ltd. may make an offer for the maker of Splenda sweetener.
USA
Concern earnings growth is too slow to justify U.S. equity valuations sent the Nasdaq Composite Index to its biggest decline in two weeks.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) dropped 0.8% to 1,863.40, leaving it down 0.1% for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 140.19 points, or 0.8%, to 16,361.46.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final April index of sentiment rose to 84.1 from 80 a month earlier, topping the median estimate of 83. The index averaged 89 in the five years before December 2007, when the last recession began.
Losses were heaviest in technology companies that have posted the biggest gains of the five-year bull market. Facebook Inc. (FB), which doubled in 2013, and Netflix Inc., which almost quadrupled, slid more than 5%.
Amazon.com Inc. dropped 9.9% after predicting an operating loss in the current quarter, contributing to a 1.8%decline in the Nasdaq Composite. Broadcom Corp. lost 4.4% to pace declines among technology shares. Visa sank the most since July after revenue missed analyst targets. Ford Motor Co. slipped 3.3% after posting earnings that trailed analysts’ estimates.
Some 15 S&P 500 members reported earnings today. Of the 239 companies that have released results this season, 75% have exceeded analysts’ profit estimates, while 53% have beaten sales projections, data show.
Analysts predict the benchmark’s constituents will collectively report a 3.4% increase in first-quarter profit.
Eight of the 10 main S&P 500 industries retreated, Consumer-discretionary shares dropped 1.7% to pace losses as Amazon sank. Utility shares advanced 1.1%.
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