Asian stocks fell back on Thursday, led by commodity companies, after China said it may curb overcapacity in the steel and cement industries, as well as strengthen controls of stock and bond sales. Futures on the S&P500 Index lost 0.3% after the gauge ended Wednesday little changed as a smaller-than- estimated rise in orders for some durable goods and possible curbs on raw-materials suppliers in China outweighed a surge in new-home sales.
Asian markets (Thurs)
04:10 BST
Nikkei down 168.72 (-1.59%) at 10,470.99
Topix down 15.05 (-1.54%) at 960.54
Hang Seng down 146.27 (-0.72%) at 20,310.05
US markets (Wed)
S&P500 up 0.12 (0.01%) at 1,028.12
DJIA up 4.23 (0.04%) at 9,543.52
Nasdaq up 0.20 (0.01%) at 2,024.43
European markets (Wed)
Eurofirst 300 down 4.84 (-0.49) at 973.92
FTSE100 down 26.22 (0.42%) at 4,890.58
Currencies
04:05 BST
€/$ 1.4242 (1.4294)
$/¥ 93.82 (93.96)
£/$ 1.6224 (1.6322)
Commodities (continuous)
04:08 BST
Brent Crude (ICE) down $0.25 at $71.40
Light Crude (Nymex) up $0.09 at $71.34
100 Oz Gold (Comex) up $0.80 at $946.60
Copper (Comex) up $0.85 at $286.55
10-year government bond yields (%)
04:12 BST
US 3.43 (3.45)
UK 3.54 (3.55)
Germany 3.23 (3.26)
Japan 1.31 (1.32)
Sources: FT, Reuters, Bloomberg