TOKYO – Asian stocks fell, opening the global trading day Monday after terrorist attacks in Paris on Friday last week sent worries across the world about their possible economic effects.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 fell nearly 1 per cent to 19,407.07 in morning trading. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.8 per cent to 5,012.90. South Korea’s Kospi was down 1 per cent at 1,952.17. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.6 per cent to 22,041.53 while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5 per cent to 3,562.81. Other regional markets were also lower, including Taiwan and Singapore.
PARIS WORRIES: The attacks left 129 people dead and more than 350 injured. Investors, already nervous about slowing growth in China and the future of the eurozone, are fretting about stocks and oil prices. Travel could slow not only to Paris but other major cities, hurting airlines and other related businesses. A decline in tourism in Europe could weaken the euro.
THE QUOTE: “The Paris attack over the weekend may trigger risk aversion in the early part of the week. We may thus see a knee-jerk reaction in asset markets today,” says Cynthia Jane Kalasopatan of the Singapore Treasury Division at Mizuho Bank.
TRAVEL ISSUES: Qantas Airways fell 1.8 per cent, recovering an earlier bigger fall. Japan Airlines fell nearly 3 per cent, while ANA Holdings slipped 2.4 per cent. Major Japanese travel company HIS Co. dropped 4.7 per cent.
WALL STREET: On Friday, before the attacks happened, a streak of six consecutive weeks of gains was broken on fears the holiday shopping season will be a dud. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 202.83 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 17,245.24. The Standard & Poor’s 500 gave up 22.93 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 2,023.04. The Nasdaq composite index slipped 77.20 points, or 1.5 per cent, to 4,927.88.
ENERGY: U.S. crude added 28 cents to $41.02 a barrel. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, was up 50 cents to $44.97 a barrel.
CURRENCIES: The euro declined to $1.0723 from $1.0751 late last week, while the dollar edged down to $122.45 yen from $122.67 yen late last week.
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AP Markets Writer Marley Jay contributed to this report. Follow him at twitter.com/marleyjayAP
His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay
Follow Yuri Kageyama at twitter.com/yurikageyama
Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama
