International Markets - Asian indices sink on US led pessimism

Asian indices sink on US led pessimism

Asian markets slid further on Thursday, as Shanghai-listed stocks dived, led by steel shares after Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. reported a drop in annual profit. Other markets also declined as worries about the health of the U.S. economy and global financial markets hurt banking stocks the most such as Mizuho Financial Group in Tokyo and Commonwealth Bank of Australia Sydney and ICICI Bank in Mumbai. Yesterdays fall on Wall Street also resurfaced the concern about the banks profit, which will take much longer than expected to recover from the housing slump.

China's Shanghai Composite was the worst hit, sinking 5.4% to 3,411.49- Lowest level since April 2007.

The performance in Shanghai also weighed in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 0.5% to 11,805.87. But the benchmark Hang Seng Index wavered between positive and negative zones, as losses in airline and refining stocks were countered by gains in Cheung Kong (Holdings) after the diversified company posted better-than-expected 2007 earnings. It ended 0.2% higher at 22,664.22.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Average ended the day 0.8% lower at 12,604.58 and the broader Topix index gave up 0.9% to 1,226.44.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 5,371.60, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.2% to 1,676.24, and New Zealand's NZX 50 index shed 0.6% to 3,404.55. Taiwan's weighted index lost 1.9% at 8,605.95

In afternoon trading, the Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 0.7% at 3,015.70 while India's Sensex fell 0.2% to 16,055.28.

In Asian currency trading, the U.S. dollar bought 98.75 yen. On Wednesday, the dollar bought 100.06 yen late in Asian trading and 99 yen late in New York.

May crude-oil futures rose as much as 6 cents to $105.96 a barrel in electronic trading after the front-month contract finished $4.68 higher at $105.90 a barrel Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

European stocks opened in negative territory for the second consecutive day. In the opening trade, the U.K. FTSE 100 index edged down 0.1% to 5,657.10, the German DAX 30 index lost 0.2% to 6,480.04 and the French CAC-40 index slipped 0.1% to 4,671.85.

On the data side, we had consumer sentiment among German citizens, which improved slightly in April from March, the economic expectations index and income expectations edged up in April.

According to the GFK consumer sentiment survey, the overall consumer sentiment posted at 4.6 levels in April, an increase from 4.5 in March. The economic expectations index edged up to 15.0 point in April, from 14.6 in March. Income expectations increased sharply to 1.5 points in April from -0.5 in March. Propensity to buy index shows signs of a slow recovery with an increased to -10.2 points to April.

The day ahead is packed with some of the powerful events for the month. In the European session we will have BBA Mortgage approvals and Total business investment for U.K. In the late evening we have continuing as well as initial jobless claims data from U.S. Core Personal Consumption Expenditure will follow it. However the focus for the evening will be on the annualized Gross Domestic Figure for U.S for the Fourth quarter of 2007. According to preliminary estimates the GDP has rose by 0.6% in Q4 of 2007.