RTRS: World stocks slip, refocus on economic malaise
By Natsuko Waki
LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks slipped from the previous day's three-week high on Tuesday after dire corporate news and economic data prompted investors to shift their focus back to the worsening state of the global economy.
Stocks and other risky assets got a fillip on Monday after U.S. President-elect Barack Obama outlined plans at the weekend for the largest infrastructure investment since the 1950s and hopes grew for a rescue plan for U.S. automakers.
But news of job cuts at Sony (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), revenue forecast downgrades from Texas Instruments (TXN.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and National Semiconductor Corp (MSM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and weak economy data from Japan fanned concerns about the already deteriorating global economy.
On Monday, U.S. stocks hit their highest level in a month, pushing the S&P index into positive territory for the month.
"Wall Street shares rose on expectations, but things haven't gotten any better. In fact, the indicators are so bad they could hardly be worse," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Shinko Securities in Tokyo.
"Certainly we do have economic policies, but we still don't know exactly what this will result in, and the situation of the U.S. carmakers has yet to be resolved. This uncertainty is hitting the dollar and then stocks." MSCI world equity index fell half a percent while the FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 lost 1.4 percent on the day.
Emerging stocks .MSCIEF fell 0.3 percent.
U.S. crude oil fell 0.75 percent to $43.39 a barrel after rallying 7 percent the previous day.
December Bund futures rose 35 ticks. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries stood at 2.6963 percent, having hit a five-decade low of 2.510 percent last week.
"Bond yields could drop in the near future if central banks cut short-term interest rates and the growth outlook worsens," Henderson Global Investors said in a note to clients.
"Except in the worst scenarios, bonds are not good value on a medium-term perspective and yields could be rising by the second half of next year."
The dollar .DXY rose half a percent against a basket of major currencies while the yen rose 0.6 percent to 92.36 per dollar.
Data showed Japan's economy contracted at an even faster pace than originally estimated during the third quarter, with the economy shrinking 0.5 percent in July-September.
