World stocks muted amid Irish debt, China jitters

[November 17, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- European stocks traded in narrow ranges Wednesday as investors monitored developments in the region's debt crisis, while Asian stocks mostly fell on expectations China will raise interest rates again to tame inflation.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 7.78 points, or 0.1 percent, at 5,674.04 while the CAC-40 in France rose 10.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,773.14. Germany's DAX was up 22.62, or 0.3 percent, to 6,685.86.

Wall Street was poised to rise at the open -- Dow futures were up 27 points, or 0.2 percent, at 11,011 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 3.9 points, or 0.2 percent, at 1,178.60.

Investors had been hoping that a meeting of finance ministers from the 16-country eurozone would end with an agreement on a bailout package for Ireland's troubled banks.

But the meeting ended late Tuesday without any deal, although European Union officials said they have "intensified" preparations for potential support for the country's troubled banking sector.

That gave the euro a modest boost against the dollar after it tumbled the day before to a six-week low.

"The meeting has passed and we are none the wiser in regard to when and what scale of support will eventually be offered to Ireland to try and stem the escalation of investor concerns over Ireland's banking sector and sovereign debt position," said Derek Halpenny, European head of global currency research at the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ.

A second meeting of finance ministers from the broader 27-member European Union is scheduled for later today. As he arrived for the meeting, Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne said his country "stands ready to support Ireland" in any way to stabilize its ailing banking system. Britain is not a part of the eurozone.

Concerns that Ireland will be unable to pay the cost of rescuing its banks -- which ran into trouble when the country's real estate boom collapsed -- has worsened Europe's government debt crisis.

Markets have pushed up borrowing costs for other vulnerable nations such as Portugal and Spain and threatened to destabilize the common euro currency.

There was speculation that Ireland's government might be forced to take a bailout like the one that saved Greece from defaulting on its bonds in May. A euro750 billion backstop stands ready from other countries that use the euro.

Speculation that China will take more steps to rein in its red-hot economy after inflation hit a 25-month high in October also kept markets in check. A state media report of a days old speech by Premier Wen Jiabao, the country's top economic official, saying the Cabinet is "drafting measures to suppress sharp rises of commodity prices" added to those expectations.

China's government said later in the day, after trading closed, that it will give poor families subsidies to help pay for food following a spike in prices.

The announcement comes after politically sensitive food prices jumped 10.1 percent in October, raising the threat of social tensions. The government also promised efforts to increase supplies of grain, vegetables and diesel fuel but stopped short of ordering direct price controls.

China's Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.9 percent to 2,838.86 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dived 2 percent to 23,214.46.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average bucked the trend, gaining 0.2 percent to 9,811.66 as the dollar rose against the yen, boosting exporters.

Australia's ASX/S&P 200 dropped 1.6 percent to 4,624.30 and South Korea's Kospi fell l 0.1 percent to 1,897.11.

Elsewhere, markets in Taiwan, Thailand and New Zealand fell. Singapore, India, Indonesia and Malaysia were closed for holidays.

In currencies, the dollar rose 0.1 percent to 83.38 yen. The euro rose 0.2 percent to $1.3514.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 31 cents at $82.03 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.52, or 3 percent, to settle at $82.34 on Tuesday.

[Associated Press; KELVIN CHAN]

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