Stock Markets in Asia and Europe Post Declines On Jitters About Interest Rates and Profit-Taking
Interest-rate jitters and profit-taking dragged stocks in Asia and Europe lower as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve's policy committee meeting.</br></br>While the Fed decided to leave U.S. short-term rates unchanged yesterday afternoon, the news came too late to revive wilting stocks in Asia and Europe. And investors still are waiting to see whether the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, both of which meet today, will lower European and British interest rates. German stocks fell 1.5%, France fell 1.3%, Italy shed 1%, and Britain dropped 1.2%.</br></br>Meanwhile in Asia, the focus was on Japan, where government bond yields continued to climb. This boosted the yen, and hurt Japanese stocks, which fell 1.3%. The key index in Hong Kong fell 0.9%, South Korea dropped 2.5% and Thailand shed 2.6%.</br></br>Overall, the Dow Jones World Stock Index fell 0.32 point, or 0.16%, to 205.77.</br></br>In trading in Asia Thursday, Tokyo closed the morning session down 1.6%, while South Korea was 1.4% lower in late-morning dealings. Hong Kong had shed 0.5% in early trading.