[1]World stock markets mostly fell on Monday and the euro hit a new four-year low in the wake of poor US jobs figures and amid fresh fears that the debt crisis that began in Greece is spreading to Hungary.
The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 85.15 points at 5,126 while Germany’s DAX slipped 2.4 points to 5,937. The CAC-40 fell 10.7 points to 3,442.98.
Oil was also buffeted, falling to near $70 a barrel, while Wall Street opened with little momentum.
Asian indexes closed sharply lower Monday: Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock plunged 380.39 points, or 3.8 percent, to 9,520.80, with investors cautious before Japan’s new leader, Naoto Kan, forms his Cabinet on Tuesday.
“The past week’s data have added to concerns that strains in the region’s periphery are spreading to broader economic activity,” analysts at London-based Capital Economics said in a report. “Meanwhile, fears of a meltdown in the European banking system have grown,” said senior European economist, Ms Jennifer McKeown.
The selling was sparked in Asia earlier Monday on fears that Europe’s debt problems could spread after a Hungarian official said last week that the nation was at risk of a Greek-style fiscal crisis. The government met over the weekend and distanced itself from the comments.
The incident, however, shocked investors and pushed the euro to a fresh four-year low against the dollar. Hungary is part of the European Union, but keeps its national currency, the forint, which dropped around five per cent last week. “The problem seems like a cancerous thing — it’s spreading from smaller country to smaller country, and many people are afraid that it will spread to a big country like France or Germany, although that’s unlikely,” said Mr Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities. However, German Chanc-ellor Angela Merkel said that it will save $96 billion by 2014 through several austerity measures.
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[1] http://archive.asianage.com/bus3jpg-747