BLBG:New Zealand Dollar Weakens After Economy Slows; Oil Drops
Chinese stocks and commodities fell, while Australia’s dollar slid to a two-month low as data showed China’s manufacturing may contract for a fifth month.
The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.4 percent as of 1:40 p.m. in Tokyo. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) added 0.2 percent, led by health-care stocks and utilities. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed, while Treasuries rose for a third day. Australia’s currency weakened 0.6 percent. The S&P GSCI Index of commodities lost 0.4 percent as copper and natural gas declined.
A preliminary measure of Chinese manufacturing fell to 48.1 in March, the lowest level in four months, according to HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. German services and factory output probably expanded this month, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists before the Markit report. Asian stocks pared early gains spurred by data that showed higher-than- estimated Japan exports.
“The real economy is still slowing and hasn’t shown signs of picking up as the market expected,” said Wang Zheng, Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management Co., which manages about $120 million. “The concern about growth is back and that’ll weigh on sentiment.”
China Shares
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid 0.2 percent for a seventh day of losses. The Hang Seng Index fell less than 0.1 percent. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced this month an economic growth target of 7.5 percent for 2012, down from an annual 8 percent over the past seven years.
Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea’s biggest carrier, fell 3.9 percent in Seoul after Samsung Securities Co. cut its profit forecast. Nexon Co. (3659) rallied 5.6 percent after the gaming company raised its first-quarter net income forecast by 45 percent on sales from online titles in Asia.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.5 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index (KOSPI) slipped 0.1 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average was little changed. About the same number of stocks rose and fell in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index.
The New Zealand dollar lost 0.8 percent, weakening against all its major counterparts. The nation’s gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous period, the government said. That compares with the 0.6 percent projection from a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Yen Climbs
The yen climbed 0.2 percent against the dollar. Japan’s unexpected trade surplus for February and higher-than-forecast exports added to evidence of a rebound in the world’s third- biggest economy. The Cabinet Office said yesterday that the economy is picking up “slowly” after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern regions in March last year.
Oil fell as much as 0.7 percent after France said that industrialized nations are considering releasing strategic crude stockpiles to counter rising prices. Crude prices have advanced this year on concern sanctions aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear program will disrupt oil exports.
“The big story at the moment is the Chinese slowdown, the economy slowing down there and how that’ll have an effect on demand,” Jonathan Barratt, chief executive of Barratt’s Bulletin, a commodity markets newsletter in Sydney, said in a Bloomberg Television interview.
Copper in London fell 1 percent to $8,375 a metric ton. Nickel lost 0.4 percent and aluminum slid for a third day.
Ten-year Treasury yields fell one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 2.29 percent. The yield has dropped 9 basis points in the past three days.
To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shelley Smith at ssmith118@bloomberg.net
