(BANGKOK) — Asian stock markets mostly fell Wednesday after a meeting of European finance ministers failed to stem fears that the euro currency union is hurtling toward a breakup.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.9 percent to 8,406.04 and South Korea's Kospi shed 0.1 percent to 1,854.36. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.7 percent to 18,136.53. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.3 percent to 4,112.20.
(See more on the Euro crisis.)
Japan's industrial production rose 2.4 percent in October from the previous month, the government said Wednesday. But the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expects it to dip again in November and described industrial production as "flat."
A meeting in Brussels of finance ministers from the 17 countries that use the euro ended without an announcement on plans to contain the debt crisis that is threatening to shatter the currency union.
The ministers sent debt-riddled Greece euro8 billion ($10.7 billion) to stem an immediate cash crisis, but they kicked more difficult issues — such as whether countries should cede some control over their finances to a central European authority — to the leaders of the European Union who meet next week.
In the latest sign of trouble, Italy was forced to pay a high interest rate on an auction of three-year debt Tuesday. The 7.89 percent rate was nearly three percentage points higher than last month, an enormous increase.
(See more on the new political leaders fighting the Euro crisis.)
If Italy were to default on its debt of euro1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion), the fallout could spell ruin for the euro common currency and send shock waves through the global economy.
On Wall Street on Tuesday, a jump in U.S. consumer confidence sent stocks modestly higher. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.3 percent to close at 11,555.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.2 percent to 1,195.19. The Nasdaq composite, which consists mostly of technology stocks, fell 0.5 percent to 2,515.51.
The Conference Board, a private research firm, said its Consumer Confidence Index climbed 15 points in November to 56.0 — an improvement, but still well below the level of 90 that indicates an economy on solid footing.
