Dollar slides against euro as German business confidence rises (AFP)
AFP - The dollar fell against the euro, primarily as the European currency benefitted from robust German business confidence figures, traders said.
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European stocks untie after Asian, US losses (AFP)
Tue Dec 19, 6:31 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - Europe's main stock markets slid in early trading, as Asian stocks plunged amid the worst-ever drop in Bangkok and following losses by Wall Street overnight.
Thai stocks on Tuesday suffered the biggest losses in more than 30 years as panicking investors fled the market after the central bank imposed draconian measures in an effort to halt the rise of Thailand's baht currency.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares shed 0.69 percent to 6,204.20 points, in Frankfurt the DAX 30 lost 0.91 percent to reach 6,536.28 points and the Paris CAC 40 shaved 0.91 percent to 5,477.81.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone blue chip shares declined 0.89 percent to 4,093.12 points.
The euro stood at 1.3160 dollars.
On Friday the main London and Paris indices had closed at the highest levels for more than five years, while Frankfurt had at one point hit a six-year high of 6,600 points.
US stocks swung lower Monday as some early gains fuelled by merger news faded and the market consolidated following last week's highs.
Japanese share prices tumbled Tuesday, snapping a six-day rally as accounting scandals at two listed firms, a softer Wall Street and Thailand's troubles soured sentiment, dealers said.
In London, the share price in Vodafone fell 0.52 percent to 144.5 pence after the British mobile phone giant offloaded its 25-percent stake in Swisscom Mobile to Swisscom for 4.25 billion Swiss francs (3.49 billion dollars, 2.65 billion euros).
This was slightly lower than the 4.5 billion Swiss francs it received as a sale price in November 2000.
Swisscom gained 0.44 percent to 454.5 Swiss francs, outperforming the Swiss Market Index which suffered a fall in-line with Europe's main stock markets.
In Asia meanwhile, the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index plummeted 14.84 percent to end at 622.14 points, the biggest one-day drop in the 31-year history.
"Investors were really scared by the central bank's measures," said Tarisa Chaisuntornyotin, a senior market analyst at Siam City Securities.
In Japan, the Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark Nikkei-225 closed down 1.09 percent to 16,776.88 points. Dealers said accounting flaws reported Monday by Nikko Cordial and a regional unit of Misawa Homes Holdings unsettled the market.
Market players also opted to take profits from recent highs amid a feeling of anticlimax after the Bank of Japan left interest rates unchanged in line with expectations, dealers said.
Hong Kong's key Hang Seng Index slid 1.19 percent to end at 18,964.55 points.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.03 percent to finish at 12,441.27 points on Monday. The leading blue chip index had closed at a record high of 12,444.52 on Friday.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index faced the biggest pressure and lost 0.88 percent to 2,435.57 points Monday, while the Standard and Poor's 500 broad-market index lost 0.33 percent to 1,422.48. Both indices had surged to multi-year highs on Friday.
Regions : Europe
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