Asian stock markets were down on Tuesday with steps by the European Union to stem a massive debt crisis in Ireland failing to soothe investor nerves.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average dropped 0.4 percent to 10,084.46 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was lower by 0.9 percent to 22,960.43. South Korea’s Kospi index was up 0.8 percent to 1,909.60.
Australia’s S&P/ASX200 index fell 0.6 percent to 4,593.9 and China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid 2.4 percent to 2,798.73.
Benchmarks in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Zealand were also down. Stock markets in Malaysia and Taiwan rose.
Stocks tumbled as investors continued to worry that Sunday’s euro 67.5 billion ($88.4 billion) bailout of Ireland by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund may not be able to stop Europe’s debt crisis from moving swiftly onto another country.
The rescue deal, approved by finance ministers at an emergency meeting in Brussels, means two of the euro zone’s 16 nations have now come to depend on foreign help -- Greece and now Ireland. All the crisis talk is hitting stocks hard -- and underneath it all are fears that the contagion could spread to Spain, a major economy whose implosion would have serious repercussions for the euro.
Traders also remained cautious ahead of a slew of economic data due out of the U.S. this week.
The U.S. Labour Department will release third-quarter productivity data and U.S. employment data for November, while the Institute for Supply Management will release its manufacturing index for November. Vehicle and retail sales figures for November will also be released, along with factory orders for October.
On Wall Street on Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 39.51 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 11,052.49. It had been down as many as 163 earlier in the morning, falling to 10,929.28, the lowest level in six weeks. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged down 1.64, or 0.1 percent, to 1,187.76. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 9.34, or 0.4 percent, to 2,525.22.
Holiday retail sales got off to a good start in the post-Thanksgiving weekend. The National Retail Federation, a trade group, estimated that 212 million shoppers visited stores and websites during the first weekend of the holiday season, up from 195 million last year.
A fuller picture on spending will come Thursday when retailers report November sales. Investors have been hoping that consumers, who have generally been spending cautiously since the recession, would feel more comfortable about shopping during the holidays.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 43 cents at $85.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added $1.54 to settle at $87.34 on Monday.
In currencies, the dollar rose to 84.20 yen from 84.17 yen late Monday in New York. The euro fell to $1.3102 from $1.3110.
