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Journalism of Courage
Asian stocks fell from near seven-week highs on Monday after weak US consumer confidence data overshadowed strong retail numbers and curbed demand for risky assets,keeping the price of oil below $81.
Investors were disappointed that Friday’s upbeat February retail sales report,which showed spending rose in spite of bad weather,failed to help US stocks to rise,leading the market to focus instead on souring consumer mood.
The cautious tone was echoed on Sunday when Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said there was a chance the world economy may slip back into recession,resulting in a double-dip recession.
That was enough to lead stock investors to play it safe. Japan’s Nikkei gave up earlier gains to slip 0.2 per cent from seven-week highs. MSCI’s index of Asian shares outside Japan fell nearly 1 per cent.
“The outlook in the stock market is cloudy,” said Francis Lun,general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. “US consumer confidence is still weak and it does not bode well for Asian exporters.”
Monday’s move away from risky trades kept with a broader trend in the market this year,which has showed investors favouring safety over risk.
The US dollar and yen,the typical haven bets,are up 2.7 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively since January. Like-wise,gold ,another favourite safety play,is up 1.1 per cent. In contrast,the Asian ex-Japan MSCI stock index is down 0.7 per cent for the year.
