Asian shares trade weaker

Asian shares tracked Wall Street lower on Thursday morning as weak forecasts for major US corporations underscored concern over global demand. Dow Jones traded 0,95 percent down and the technology sell out seen in the beginning of the week continued with Nasdaq losing 0,43 percent. Alcoa, Chevron, Cisco and Home Depot were the big losers. The oil giant Chevron issued a profit warning for its third quarter result and fell 4 percent. Alcoas grim outlook for global aluminum consumption led to a similar fall. The Asian indexes continue to fall. The Nikkei index for Japan was down for the third day in row.
Commodity prices are under pressure. The Euro remained on the back foot due to uncertainty over Spain’s bailout prospect and Standard and Poor’s downgrading of Spanish debt. The Euro is trading at its lowest level in October. It dipped to 1.2835 on Wednesday and recovered to 1.2865 in early Asian trade. USD/JPY is stronger at 78.05. There are small changes in the overall currency picture. Employment number from Australia was stronger than expected, and the Australian dollar rose for the third day against the USD. Two of the leading emerging market economies, Brazil and South Korea, have both lowered their interest rate.
The tension in the Middle East escalated yesterday when Turkey forced a civilian airplane on route from Moscow to Damascus to land in Ankara. The tense situation continues to have an impact on the oil prices which are steadily up due to concerns over supply. There is fear that the Syrian-Turkey crisis could spill over and further escalate the high tension level between the West and Iran on its nuclear program. Brent crude is trading close to USD 115 a barrel. Precious metals are stable. Gold is trading between 1760 and 1765 with silver stabilizing on USD 34 an ounce.
The International Monetary Fund, IMF, which presented its global growth half yearly forecast this week ahead of its meeting in Tokyo, expresses concern on the slower growth in China and urges swifter action in Europe as the euro zone debt crisis drags on. IMF expressed frustration over Europe’s piecemeal response to its debt crisis, and warned that the respite in borrowing costs in debt laden countries as Spain and Italy might prove short-lived unless Euro zone leaders take more firm action.
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