World stocks in modest pullback from Monday gains

[November 17, 2009]  LONDON (AP) -- European and Asian stock markets fell modestly Tuesday, a day after a stronger than anticipated rebound in U.S. retail sales helped many of the world's major indexes rise to their highest levels this year.

The FTSE 100 benchmark of leading British shares was down 13.32 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,369.35 -- on Monday it closed at its highest since September 2008.

Meanwhile, Germany's DAX fell 6.33 points, or 0.1 percent, to 5,768.49 while the CAC-40 in France was 9.52 points, or 0.3 percent, lower at 3,853.64. Both indexes are near yearly highs as well.

On Wall Street, stocks were also poised to open slightly lower, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at 13-month highs -- particularly noteworthy was the S&P finally managing to close above 1,100 for the first time.

Dow futures were down 3 points at 10,365 while the S&P 500 futures slipped 0.4 point to 1,105.90.

Analysts doubt that Tuesday's subdued mood heralds a period of sustained weakness.

"There is little to suggest that this will turn into any full-blown bout of profit taking," said Ben Potter, research analyst at IG Markets in Melbourne, Australia.

Stock markets have rallied strongly since March's lows as investors reined in their economic doomsday expectations to factor in a swifter than anticipated global economic rebound.

U.S. retail sales data Monday helped stoke investor optimism about the recovery in the world's largest economy. U.S. retail sales are particularly important when assessing the outlook for the global economy because U.S. consumer spending accounts for around 70 percent of the U.S. economy.

Retailers will continue to dominate the earnings calendar in the U.S. this week, too. Those scheduled to report include Home Depot Inc., Target Corp. and Gap Inc.

Investors are also keeping a close eye on the dollar, which won a brief respite Monday after U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was monitoring developments in foreign exchange markets closely and that current monetary policies "will help ensure that the dollar is strong and a source of global financial stability."

His comments provoked a knee-jerk dollar rally, pushing the euro down to $1.4878.

However, those dollar gains were mostly lost in European trading as investors focused on his statement that economic conditions would "warrant exceptionally low levels of interest rates for an extended period."

"Investors seemingly recovered from the initial reaction and the dollar weakened slightly following the Bernanke comments as investors sought risk assets once more," said Gareth Berry, a currency strategist at UBS.

By midmorning London time, the euro was down 0.4 percent on the day at $1.4905, having oscillated widely between $1.4878 and $1.5010 over the last day or so. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was unchanged at 89.10 yen.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average lost 61.25 points, or 0.6 percent, to 9,729.93 with exporters hit by the appreciating yen. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 29.83, or 0.1 percent, to 22,914.15 after briefly rising above 23,000 earlier in the day and South Korea's Kospi retreated 0.4 percent to 1,585.98.

Elsewhere, Australia's benchmark faded 0.5 percent and Singapore's market dropped 0.6 percent. China's Shanghai index bucked the trend on optimism about the country's economic recovery, gaining 0.2 percent to a 14-week high of 3,282.89.

Oil prices hovered below $79 a barrel. Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 48 cents to $78.42 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.55 to settle at $78.90 on Monday.

[Associated Press; By PAN PYLAS]

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