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World stock markets plunge

03 September 2009 07:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku- APA-Economics. Stock futures lost ground Wednesday after a private sector report on unemployment failed to ease investorsâ€™ concerns about job losses.
Futures had been little changed, but moved slightly lower after the ADP National Employment Report said employment fell by 298,000 in August following a revised loss of 360,000 jobs in July. It was the smallest drop since September 2008, but ADP said employment is likely to decline for at least several more months.
Ahead of the marketâ€™s open, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 19, or 0.2 percent, to 9,284. Standard & Poorâ€™s 500 index futures fell 2.70, or 0.3 percent, to 993.80, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 6, or 0.4 percent, to 1,589.50.
Overseas markets dropped, taking a cue from the sell-off Tuesday in U.S. markets. Japanâ€™s Nikkei stock average tumbled 2.4 percent and Hong Kongâ€™s Hang Seng index fell 1.8 percent. Britainâ€™s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 percent in afternoon trading, while Germanyâ€™s DAX index fell 0.4 percent and Franceâ€™s CAC-40 fell 0.5 percent.
Bond prices mostly fell in early trading Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.37 percent from 3.36 percent late Tuesday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices dipped.
Oil prices rebounded slightly, rising 48 cents to $68.53 a barrel in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange ahead of the Energy Departmentâ€™s weekly report on crude supplies.
Later Wednesday morning, the Commerce Department will issue data on factory orders for July.
The stock marketâ€™s massive spring and summer rally came to a halt Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrials falling 185 points. The index is down 270 points since Friday, its biggest drop over three days since July 7, when it lost 341 points.
Stocks sold off even in the midst of data showing the first month of growth in manufacturing activity since January 2008, and the sixth straight monthly increase in pending home sales. Investors have largely come to expect improvements in manufacturing and housing, which have already been showing signs of healing. But still-rising unemployment and sluggish consumer confidence remain big concerns.