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European Markets Take 2.5% Drop in China Stocks as Positive Sign

©2015 Bloomberg News
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(Bloomberg) — European stocks rose, U.S. futures climbed and the yen weakened as investors took solace that the resumption of trading in Chinese equities failed to spark a deeper selloff.
All except two of the 19 industry groups in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced as China’s central bank chief said the rout in shares was close to ending. Commodity producers led gains as Glencore Plc’s plan to restructure boosted the stock and lifted copper. Prospects for higher Federal Reserve interest rates weighed on emerging markets, sending a gauge of 20 currencies lower for a fifth straight day.

While most mainland Chinese stocks rose Monday, declines among the large companies normally targeted for state buying dragged the Shanghai Composite Index 2.5 percent lower at the close. People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan sought to reassure investors over the weekend, saying in a statement that intervention had stopped the free-fall in equities. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.5 percent with U.S. markets closed for a holiday.

“We did have some reassurance from the Chinese authorities over the weekend that this could be more or less the end of the rout,” said Jane Foley, a senior currency strategist at Rabobank International in London. “But clearly the market is still very fragile as we’re staring directly at the next Fed meeting.”

Stocks gained after Chinese officials sought to shore up confidence at a gathering of Group of 20 finance chiefs amid growing concern over the health of the world’s second-biggest economy. China’s 2014 economic growth was revised lower by 0.1 percentage point to 7.3 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. The country’s foreign-exchange reserves fell by a record $93.9 billion to $3.56 trillion last month as the central bank sold dollars to support the yuan after the biggest devaluation in two decades spurred bets on continued weakness.

The Stoxx 600 Index advanced 0.5 percent at the close after earlier gaining as much as 1.2 percent. Emerging markets fell again, with the benchmark index down 1.4 percent, after Friday’s U.S. payrolls report failed to provide clarity on the timing of Fed interest-rate increases.

Glencore jumped 7 percent after saying it plans to sell assets and shares to cut its net debt by about a third. Euro- denominated bonds sold by the company surged to the highest in two weeks, with its 1.25 billion euros ($1.4 billion) of securities due March 2021 rising 4.36 cents on the euro to 92.30 cents, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The cost of insuring its senior debt against default fell to 319 basis points Monday from a more than three-year high of 445 basis points, according to data provider CMA.
(For more news on stocks, see: TOP STK.)

Emerging Markets

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index declined for a second straight day, reaching a two-week low. Malaysia’s ringgit sank 1.6 percent versus the dollar, Colombia’s local bonds fell to a four-year low after higher-than-expected inflation and South Korea’s won weakened beyond 1,200 per dollar for the first time since 2011.

More than two shares rose for every one that fell in the Shanghai Composite Index after a two-day holiday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong slipped 0.7 percent.

The lira slid to a record low and Turkish stocks dropped as concern deepened over security after Kurdish separatists killed soldiers in a roadside bomb attack Sunday. The currency traded 0.7 percent lower.

Colombia’s Almacenes Exito SA and Mexico’s Grupo Lala SAB led gains among members of the MSCI Latin America index, while Latam Airlines SA fell 0.8 percent.
(For more news on emerging markets, see: TOP EM.)

Commodities

Copper led the advance in metals, gaining 1.1 percent. Glencore said it had suspended copper production at its Katanga operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its Mopani project in Zambia for 18 months. The suspension will remove about 400,000 metric tons of copper cathode from the market.

West Texas Intermediate oil slipped as much as 3.9 percent, putting it on course for the first back-to-back decline in two weeks, as the chief executive officer of Russian oil producer OAO Rosneft ruled out a deal with OPEC on production cuts and amid concern Chinese demand is weakening. Brent dropped 4 percent to $47.63 a barrel.

Currencies

The yen weakened for the first time in three days, dropping 0.3 percent to 119.36 per dollar. The euro gained 0.2 percent to $1.1171 and the Australian dollar climbed 0.3 percent to 69.26 U.S. cents.
Britain’s pound was the best performer among developed markets, jumping 0.7 percent to $1.5281 as investors looked forward to the Bank of England’s monetary-policy decision later in the week. The gain ended a nine-day slump that coincided with speculators reversing bullish bets on the U.K. currency.

Bonds

Ten-year Treasury futures contracts fell 6/32 to 127 18/32 amid reduced demand for haven assets and as data showed China’s foreign-exchange reserves fell by a record last month. Spain’s 10-year bond yield rose six basis points to 2.14 percent.

The cost of insuring investment-grade corporate debt fell for the third time in four days. The Markit iTraxx Europe Index, which tracks credit-default swaps on investment-grade companies, dropped less than one basis point to 73 basis points. The non- investment grade Markit iTraxx Europe Crossover Index declined 2.2 basis points to 337 basis points.
(For more news on currencies, see: TOP FX.)

–With assistance from Emma O’Brien in Wellington, Chikako Mogi and Kevin Buckland in Tokyo, Namitha Jagadeesh, Sally Bakewell, Paul Dobson, Eddie van der Walt and Lucy Meakin in London and Eduardo Thomson in Santiago.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nick Gentle in Hong Kong at ngentle2@bloomberg.net; Stephen Kirkland in London at skirkland@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net; Stephen Kirkland at skirkland@bloomberg.net Dennis Fitzgerald

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Men of Value Contributor

Men of Value Contributor

Articles by various contributors to Men of Value, an online magazine for American men who value our Judeo-Christian values of faith, family, and freedom.

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