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Global Markets Dip After Greek Referendum | Global Markets Dip After Greek Referendum |
(about 5 hours later) | |
PARIS — Global stock markets mostly dropped on Monday but did not plunge, as investors reacted with muted dismay to the results of the Greek referendum and showed nervousness about steep declines in China’s stock market over the last three weeks. | |
Wall Street shares fell less than a percent, a smaller drop than some had feared. European shares fell around 2 percent. | Wall Street shares fell less than a percent, a smaller drop than some had feared. European shares fell around 2 percent. |
Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets in Brussels, said the relatively subdued reaction showed “the market has gotten used to the strange things that have been going on with Greece.” He said it also reflected investors’ confidence that Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, would take whatever action was necessary to soothe tensions at a moment of crisis. | Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets in Brussels, said the relatively subdued reaction showed “the market has gotten used to the strange things that have been going on with Greece.” He said it also reflected investors’ confidence that Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, would take whatever action was necessary to soothe tensions at a moment of crisis. |
“That’s preventing markets from going down too much,” Mr. Gijsels said. | “That’s preventing markets from going down too much,” Mr. Gijsels said. |
By the end of the day, nine of the 10 industry groups in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index were down. But the index itself had fallen a modest 0.4 percent. | |
Still, many investors were clearly nervous, putting money into assets considered safe bets in turbulent times like United States government bonds. A rout in the stocks of oil drillers and other energy companies fed the selling as the price of oil plunged nearly 8 percent. | |
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 46.53 points, or 0.3 percent, to end at 17,683.58. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index lost 8.02 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,068.76, and the Nasdaq composite dropped 17.27 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,991.94. | |
In Europe, Germany’s DAX fell 1.5 percent while the CAC-40 in France fell 2 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.8 percent lower. | In Europe, Germany’s DAX fell 1.5 percent while the CAC-40 in France fell 2 percent. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was 0.8 percent lower. |
In Asia on Monday, the Shanghai market jumped sharply in early trading as the Chinese government began pouring money into brokerage firms to help them and their customers buy shares. But the market quickly surrendered those gains, closing 2.4 percent higher. In early trading Tuesday, Chinese shares continued their fall, dropping almost 2 percent. | |
Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.2 percent early Tuesday, and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which fell to a six-month low on Monday, was up 0.3 percent. | |
Bonds in Italy, Portugal and Spain, seen as the most exposed to any potential contagion from the Greek crisis, all fell, and their yields spiked higher, indicating that those governments’ borrowing costs could rise. | |
In contrast, yields on British, German and United States government bonds fell, as investors turned toward assets they considered safer. The yield on the 10-year American Treasury note fell to 2.29 percent, from 2.39 percent late Thursday, a big move. United States markets were closed on Friday for the Fourth of July holiday. | |
The major exception was in yields on Greek bonds, which have been little traded since the country’s financial markets were closed last week. The price of the Greek two-year crashed and its yield rose to an astonishingly high 48 percent — almost 15 percentage points higher than on Friday. The yield for comparable German debt was less than 1 percent. | |
The Greek bonds’ movement has little practical effect on the government’s borrowing costs as the country has been shut out of the capital markets and has issued no new bonds lately. But their plummeting value further undermines the Greek banks, which are the biggest private holders of the country’s sovereign debt. | The Greek bonds’ movement has little practical effect on the government’s borrowing costs as the country has been shut out of the capital markets and has issued no new bonds lately. But their plummeting value further undermines the Greek banks, which are the biggest private holders of the country’s sovereign debt. |
And because Greek banks use their government’s bonds as collateral against loans from the European Central Bank, the plunge could make it even more difficult for the central bank to agree to continue lending to the banks. | |
Addressing the possibility that the central bank might force Greece’s hand before European political leaders have been able to formulate their own response, the French finance minister, Michel Sapin, on Monday told Europe 1 radio that the European Central Bank “must not cut” its support for Greek banks. | |
United States oil prices fell the most in three months after Greece’s rejection of the debt bailout terms and after China’s measures to support its stock markets. | |
Also taking a toll on the energy market were talks between Iran and world powers to meet a Tuesday deadline on a nuclear deal. That deal could release more oil into already oversupplied markets if sanctions on Iran are eased. | |
Among American stocks making big moves, Aetna sank $8.08, to $117.43, a 6.4 percent loss. That was the biggest slide in the S.&P. 500. The company agreed last week to buy a rival health insurer, Humana, for $35 billion. | |
The euro fell 0.5 percent, to $1.1057. The dollar slipped 0.3 percent, to 122.54 Japanese yen. | |
Gold rose $9.90, to $1,172.90 an ounce, for July contracts. Silver rose 19 cents, to $15.73 an ounce, and copper fell 9 cents, to $2.54 a pound. | |
Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many American refineries, fell $3.78 to close at $56.54 in London. | |
In other futures trading on the Nymex, wholesale gasoline fell 11 cents to close at $1.924 a gallon; heating oil fell 13.1 cent to close at $1.709 a gallon; and natural gas fell 6.6 cents to close at $2.756 per 1,000 cubic feet. | |
Kymberly Martin, a currency strategist at the Bank of New Zealand, said that the Greek vote and China’s stock market decline both tended to have similar effects on currencies and stock markets. | Kymberly Martin, a currency strategist at the Bank of New Zealand, said that the Greek vote and China’s stock market decline both tended to have similar effects on currencies and stock markets. |
“It’s very difficult to disentangle what proportion is the eurozone and what proportion is China,” she said. “Probably both factors are affecting the market in the same direction.” | “It’s very difficult to disentangle what proportion is the eurozone and what proportion is China,” she said. “Probably both factors are affecting the market in the same direction.” |
E. William Stone, the executive vice president and chief investment strategist at the PNC Asset Management Group in Philadelphia, said that Greece would be the dominant influence on markets, particularly in Europe and the United States. While the Shanghai stock market has lost more than a quarter of its value since June 12, it is still up nearly 80 percent from a year ago. | E. William Stone, the executive vice president and chief investment strategist at the PNC Asset Management Group in Philadelphia, said that Greece would be the dominant influence on markets, particularly in Europe and the United States. While the Shanghai stock market has lost more than a quarter of its value since June 12, it is still up nearly 80 percent from a year ago. |
“It almost seems like the Chinese authorities are overreacting,” he said. | “It almost seems like the Chinese authorities are overreacting,” he said. |
In Hong Kong, where shares closed 3.2 percent lower, investors appeared to be paying considerably more attention to China than Greece. | In Hong Kong, where shares closed 3.2 percent lower, investors appeared to be paying considerably more attention to China than Greece. |
Roger Lam, a 63-year-old retired office worker who was watching computer monitors at a downtown brokerage firm, said: “Anyone who says China does not have the ability to hold up the stock markets in China is a fool. They have just not seen the mighty power of the Chinese government.” |