A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – US stocks edged higher Tuesday after the previous day’s big declines. Strong participation from buyers at a bond sale backing Europe’s bailout fund and at an auction of Spanish government debt helped reassure investors.
Spain was able to sell short-term debt at much lower interest rates compared with a month ago, a signal that markets are becoming less fearful about the government’s ability to repay its debt.
In its first sale of short-term bills, the European Financial Stability Fund raised (euro) 1.9 billion ($2.6 billion) from investors at an average rate of 0.22 percent. That’s below the rate Germany pays for the similar bills. “This is an amazing success,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note to clients.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 69 points, or 0.6 percent to 12,090 as of noon (1700 GMT). The Dow sank 162 points the day before after Moody’s and Fitch said the fiscal agreement reached last week among European leaders fell far short of what was needed to contain that region’s debt crisis.
The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that retail sales rose for the sixth straight month in November. Sales increased just 0.2 percent, below what analysts had expected. But the government also revised the previous month’s slightly higher. That was the encouraging part, said Tim Hoyle, director of research at Haverford Investments. “It reassures you that the economy is going in the right direction,” Hoyle said.
LONDON – European shares closed mixed and the euro tumbled in choppy trade on Tuesday as fresh jitters over the eurozone debt crisis offset a better-than-expected German investor confidence report.
In London, the FTSE-100 index closed up 1.15 per cent at 5,490.15 points. In Paris, the CAC-40 fell 0.35 per cent to 3,078.72 points and in Frankfurt the DAX 30 slipped 0.19 per cent to 5,774.27 points after being up earlier in the day.
Milan finished down 0.31 per cent and Madrid lost 0.74 per cent.
HONG KONG – Asian markets mostly fell on Tuesday.
Tokyo closed down 1.17 per cent, or 101.01 points, at 8,552.81. Exporters with major business in Europe fell, with Nikon down 2.19 per cent at 1,691 yen and Canon down 1.00 per cent at 3,465.
Seoul lost 1.88 per cent, or 35.70 points, to 1,864.06.
Hong Kong ended 0.69 per cent lower, or 128.49 points, at 18,447.17. Banks led the falls, with Bank of China down 1.06 per cent to HK $2.80, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China down 0.85 per cent at $4.67 and China Construction Bank down 0.54 per cent to $5.50.markets …
WELLINGTON – New Zealand shares fell after credit ratings agencies signalled European leaders may not have done enough to contain the debt crisis and prevent a global slowdown.
The NZX 50 Index declined 6.72 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 3,292.79.
Within the index, 22 stocks fell, 14 rose and 15 were unchanged.
