Monday, August 17, 2009

Asian Shrs Lower;Fortescue Up,Strikes China Ore Deal

SINGAPORE (MarketWatch) -- Asian stock markets were lower Monday, weighed by losses on Wall Street and weak U.S. consumer sentiment data Friday. In Australia, Fortescue Metals was higher after it struck a deal with China for iron ore prices.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was 1.8% lower, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.7%, South Korea's Kospi Composite was down 0.9% and New Zealand's NZX-50 was 0.9% lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contract was down about 25 points in screen trade. On Friday the DJIA closed down 0.8%.

The rise in Japan's second-quarter gross domestic product, its first quarterly growth in five quarters, did little for markets, as it was largely in line with expectations. GDP grew 0.9% from the quarter before, compared with a 1.0% rise tipped in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of economists. (more)

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