Doubts over the Euro zone’s rescue efforts sent Asian stocks lower. The Nikkei fell 1% to 8682, and the ASX 200 sank 1.6%. Korea’s Kospi slumped 2.7% although heavyweight Samsung Electronics gained 2.4% on news Seagate would purchase Samsung’s hard drive business. In China, the Hang Seng shed 1.8% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.9%
Rumors that the European Summit would be delayed sent European markets tumbling, although the report was later denied. The DAX closed down 2.5%, the CAC40 dropped 2.3%, and the FTSE lost 1.2%. The banking sector lost 4%, and resource stocks lost more than 3%.
US stocks closed mixed, as an afternoon rally helped erase early losses. The Dow rose 37 points to 11542, the S&P 500 gained .5%, while the Nasdaq lost .2%.
After the close, Microsoft reported earnings which were inline with analyst expectations of 68 cents per share. Revenue was slightly higher than expected.
Currencies
The Swiss Franc rallied 1% to .8938, as expectations that the Swiss National Bank would raise the EURCHF exchange floor from 1.20 to 1.25 weakened. The Euro and Pound both rose .2%, and the Australian Dollar inched up .1% to 1.0244. The Yen closed flat at 76.84.
Economic Outlook
Weekly jobless claims fell to 403K, slightly better than expected. The Philly Fed manufacturing index unexpectedly rose to 8.7 from last month’s -17.5 reading. On a weaker note, existing home sales were slightly weaker than expected at 4.91M, down from last month’s 5.06M.