Asian markets traded mostly lower, despite Monday’s strong gains on Wall Street. The Nikkei and Kospi both fell .9%, and the ASX 200 slipped .6%. China’s markets continued to climb, as the Hang Seng rose 1.1% and the Shanghai Composite rallied 1.7%.
Concerns regarding Wednesday’s European Summit, sent European markets lower. The CAC40 dropped 1.4%, while the FTSE eased .4% and the DAX edged down .1%. An unexpected cancellation of a meeting of financial ministers helped fuel the uncertainty.
In the US, stocks posted large losses, as disappointing earnings and fear over Europe’s debt troubles weighed on investors. The Dow tumbled 207 points to 11708, the Nasdaq shed 2.3%, and the S&P 500 declined 2%. The VIX jumped more than 10% to 32.22.
Dow Chemical shares jumped 8.2% even though the company reported earnings which were slightly shy of expectations. Visa gained 2.6% after reporting profits that were in line with estimates.
Currencies
The dollar plunged as the market return to risk-on mode. The Australian Dollar was the biggest gainer, soaring 3.1% to 1.0722. The Swiss Franc rallied 2.4% to 1.1628, and the Euro advanced 2.1% to 1.4188. The Yen once again touched a new record high, tagging 75.67, before pulling back to 75.97, up .4%. The Canadian Dollar broke back through the parity level, climbing 1.4% to .9911.
Economic Outlook
GDP rose at an annual rate of 2.5%, slightly better than forecast, and a marked improvement from last quarter’s 1.3% gain.
Weekly jobless claims came in at 402K, slightly better than last week, but a bit weaker than forecast. Pending home sales unexpectedly declined by 4.6%, a large increase from last month’s 1.2% drop.