Asian stocks dip on U.S. earnings, Japan trade data; Nikkei down 0.80%
Published Oct 21, 2012 10:47PM ET
During Asian trading on Monday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.06%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was down 0.80%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was also down 0.80%.
Third-quarter earnings season is underway in the U.S., and disappointments have been hitting the wire.
Microsoft reported last week that its third-quarter net income fell 22% to USD4.47 billion, which missed expectations, while revenue fell 8% on year to USD16.01 billion.
General Electric, meanwhile, reported earlier that its third-quarter net income rose 8% to USD3.49 billion, while revenue rose 3% to USD36.35, missing market expectations.
Search giant Google released earnings earlier than planned late Thursday, which sparked confusion, and missed estimates as well.
The company reported revenue of USD14.10 billion, up 45% on year, though net income came to USD2.18 billion, down 20% on year and below expectations.
Fast-food giant McDonald's quarterly earnings fell 3.3% to USD1.46 billion, while revenue was basically flat at USD7.2 billion.
Elsewhere, Japanese trade data came in softer than expected.
In a report, the country's Ministry of Finance said that the country’s trade balance fell to a seasonally adjusted -0.98T, from -0.46T in the preceding month whose figure was revised up from -0.47T.
Analysts had expected the trade balance to fall -0.74T last month.
The news sent investors selling stocks across Asia and stocking up on safe-haven assets such as the U.S. dollar and the yen.
Hong Kong, top decliners included PetroChina Co., down 1.44%, China Overseas, down 1.28%, and Esprit Holdings, down 1.20%.
In Australia, top decliners included Treasury Wine Estates, down 6.73%, Panoramic Resources, down 4.51% as well, and St. Barbara Ltd., down 2.95%.
European stock futures indicated a higher opening.
France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.29%, while Germany's DAX 30 futures pointed to a gain of 0.04% as well. Meanwhile in the U.K., FTSE 100 futures were up 0.28%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.12%, while the S&P 500 futures were also up 0.12%.
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Written By: Investing.com
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