Friday, December 12, 2008
2:43 pm - KLCI down due to auto bail news failing !
Asian Stocks, U.S. Futures, Dollar Tumble as Auto Bailout Fails
By Chen Shiyin and Chua Kong Ho
Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks, U.S. index futures and the dollar tumbled after the Senate rejected a $14 billion automaker bailout plan for American automakers, threatening millions of jobs and a deepening of the global recession.
Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. tumbled more than 11 percent on concern the failure of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC would threaten suppliers that also serve Asian automakers. Denso Corp., the world’s largest listed auto-parts maker, plunged 10 percent. The dollar fell to a 13-year low against the yen, while the cost of protecting Asian bonds against default advanced. Treasuries rose, pushing two-year note yields to a record low. Metal and crude oil prices slumped.
“A potential failure in U.S. automakers will have immediate reverberations throughout the U.S. economy, which will affect demand for Asian products and add to recessionary pressures,” said Shane Oliver, Sydney-based head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors, which has $81 billion.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 3.5 percent to 84.98 as of 2:55 p.m. in Tokyo, paring a weekly gain to 6.9 percent.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 4.3 percent. The measure dropped 2.9 percent yesterday on concern talks to rescue GM and Chrysler would fail and as initial jobless claims soared to a 26-year high.
“It’s over with,” Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor in Washington. “I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It’s not going to be a pleasant sight.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average retreated 5.2 percent to 8,269.11. The CSI 300 Index sank 3.3 percent in China, after a government official said growth will slow more sharply next quarter and as retail sales grew at the slowest pace in nine months. China Mobile Ltd. fell 7.1 percent in Hong Kong.
Annual Slump
South Korea’s Kospi Index lost 4 percent, led by KB Financial Group Inc., after the Bank of Korea said the economy will expand at the slowest pace in 11 years in 2009.
The MSCI World Index has dropped 44 percent this year, on course for its worst annual retreat on record as writedowns and credit losses neared $1 trillion amid the worsening financial crisis. Declines this year have wiped out almost $30 trillion from global stock market values, taking the MSCI Asian index’s valuation to 12.5 times estimated profit, about a third lower than at the start of 2008.
Honda, Japan’s second-largest automaker, tumbled 13 percent to 1,908 yen. Nissan, the third biggest, plunged 11 percent to 310 yen. Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s No. 1 automaker, dropped 6.2 percent to 43,450 won.
Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd, who was involved in the talks, said earlier talks faltered on a Republican demand that unionized autoworkers accept a reduction in wages next year, rather than later, to match those of U.S. autoworkers who work for foreign-owned companies.
‘Iconic Industry’
“More than saddened, I’m worried this evening about what we’re doing with an iconic industry,” Dodd said. “In the midst of deeply troubling economic times we are going to add to that substantially.”
Denso plunged 11 percent to 1,444 yen. Aisin Seiki Co., Japan’s largest maker of car transmissions, sank 12 percent to 1,131 yen.
“The potential bankruptcy of U.S. automakers has huge ramifications for the many companies that depend on them, from steelmakers, tiremakers to the car dealers,” said Daphne Roth, the Singapore-based head of equity research at ABN Amro Private Bank, which manages about $27 billion of Asian assets.
The failure of the talks sent the dollar to 89.89 yen, the lowest since August 1995. The Markit iTraxx Japan index of credit-default swaps rose 11.5 basis points to 332.5 at 10:27 a.m. in Tokyo, according to prices from BNP Paribas SA.
‘Domino Impact’
Platinum, used to make catalytic converters for car and truck exhaust systems, fell as much as 3.4 percent in Asia, leading metal prices lower. Crude oil dropped as much as 5.9 percent, eroding yesterday’s 10 percent rally.
The yield on the 10-year note fell 11 basis points, or 0.11 percentage point, to 2.50 percent as of 2:05 p.m. in Tokyo, according to BGCantor Market Data. The price of the 3.75 percent security due in November 2018 rose 1 point, or $10 per $1,000 face amount, to 110 30/32.
The yield reached 2.489 percent, the lowest level since 1954, according to monthly records by Federal Reserve. Two-year rates dropped 10 basis points to 0.69 percent, the least since regular sales began in 1975.
“This is seriously bad news,” said Victor Shum, senior principal at consultants Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Singapore. “If the automakers go bankrupt then they’ll be a whole domino impact of potential job losses. If the recession is deepened then surely it will impact demand.”
U.S. Unemployment
Signs of slowing expansion in the U.S. also weighed on the region’s stocks. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits surged to 573,000 last week, the Labor Department said. That’s the highest level since November 1982.
James Hardie, which gets more than three-quarters of its sales from the U.S., fell 9.6 percent to A$3.78, on track for its largest drop since Nov. 19. Canon Inc., the world’s biggest digital-camera maker, declined 6 percent to 2,585 yen.
Li & Fung Ltd., a supplier of toys and clothing to retailers, plunged 14 percent to HK$14.56 in Hong Kong after KB Toys Inc. filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. KB Toys, an 86-year-old toy retailer, said it owes the company $27.2 million.
China Mobile, the world’s No. 1 phone company by value, lost 7.1 percent to HK$76.50. China Shipping Development Co., the nation’s largest oil carrier, fell 16 percent to HK$7.37, the biggest loss on MSCI’s Asian index.
Slowing Growth
China’s growth will slow more sharply in the first quarter of 2009 before stabilizing and then recovering, Liu He, vice minister of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs said in Beijing today. Retail sales rose 20.8 percent in November, the slowest pace in nine months, the National Bureau of Statistics also said today.
Wuliangye Yibin Co., China’s biggest spirits maker, fell 3.6 percent to 15.14 yuan. Concern that China’s economic growth will slow spurred the government to pledge on Nov. 4 to implement a 4- trillion yuan ($583 billion) economic stimulus package and the benchmark lending rate was cut by the most in 11 years.
MSCI’s Asian index has rallied 13 percent since reaching a five-year low on Nov. 20 as governments from Australia to South Korea took steps to protect their economies from the financial crisis.
South Korea yesterday slashed interest rates to a record low to shore up its economy. The nation’s central bank said today economy will grow 2 percent next year from an estimated 3.7 percent this year. KB Financial plunged 13 percent to 32,050 won.
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