BLBG:European Futures, Copper Advance; Asian Stocks Decline
European stock futures advanced with copper, while Asian shares, U.S. equity futures and oil fell.
Futures on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index climbed 0.5 percent at 7:20 a.m. in London. The MSCI Asia Pacific (MXAP) Index decreased 0.6 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slid 0.4 percent. Copper gained 0.4 percent while oil dropped from a seven-week high. The dollar and yen advanced against most of their major peers.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, set to appear before a House committee today, told the Senate Banking Committee yesterday that policy makers are studying options for further easing that could include further purchases of assets. Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday the labor situation will become more “severe,” underscoring concern that the country’s weakest economic growth since 2009 will lead to more job losses.
Credit Suisse Group AG announced measures to cut costs and boost capital by 8.7 billion Swiss francs ($8.9 billion) after a central bank report last month called for an increase in equity.
New home prices in China rose last month in the most number of cities tracked by the government this year. The statistics bureau, which released the data today, said the country should maintain property curbs.
The result poses a dilemma for Wen, who is trying to spur the growth with interest-rate cuts. Shares of developers declined as the data makes it more difficult to loosen property policies, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.
A gauge tracking property shares in Shanghai slid 4.9 percent, heading for the biggest drop in six months and falling the most among five industry groups on the Shanghai Composite Index. Poly Real Estate Group Co. declined 7.3 percent.
About six stocks declined for every two that rose on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Hokuriku Electric Power Co. (9505) slumped 21 percent and Kansai Electric Power Co. slid 6.3 percent after Nikkei news reported that regulators will ask them to conduct geological studies of fault lines at their nuclear plants.
To contact the reporters on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net; Anuchit Nguyen in Bangkok at anguyen@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shelley Smith at ssmith118@bloomberg.net
