Asian stocks on Wednesday dropped for a third day, driving Japan’s Topix index toward the lowest close in 25 years, as the deepening global recession hurts corporate earnings and demand for commodities. Futures on the S&P500 Index rose 0.3% after the gauge slumped 4.6% on Tuesday as President Barack Obama signed a $787bn stimulus bill into law.
Asian markets (Wed)
05:05am GMT
Nikkei down 115.59 (-1.51%) to 7,529.92
Topix down 7.72 (-1.02%) 748.81
Hang Seng down 202.16 (-1.56%) at 12,743.24
US markets (Tues)
DJIA down 297.81 (-3.79%) at 7,552.60
Nasdaq down 63.70 (-4.15%) at 1,470.66
S&P500 down 37.67 (-4.56%) at 789.17
European markets (Tues)
FTSE100 down 100.62 (-2.43) at 4,034.13
Eurofirst 300 down 19.87 (-2.53%) at 765.43
Currencies
05:10 GMT
€/$ 1.2587 (1.2650)
$/¥ 92.34 (91.52)
£/$ 1.4232 (1.4222)
Commodities (updated)
05:08 GMT
Brent Crude (Apr09) down $0.43 at $40.60
Light Crude (Mar09) down $0.13 at $34.80
100 Oz Gold (Feb09) up $5.40 at $972.90
Copper (Mar09) up $15.00 at $3,210.00
10-year government bond yields (%)
US 2.65 (2.81)
UK 3.40 (3.48)
Germany 2.98 (3.04)
Japan 1.26 (1.26)
Sources: FT, Reuters