22 Jun 2012

Offshore markets down

9:30 am on 22 June 2012

Stocks in the United States took a battering on Thursday, after new data worried investors that the global economy is slowing.

Business activity in the eurozone shrank in June for the fifth consecutive month and manufacturing in China also contracted, while weak overseas demand slowed US factory growth.

As a result, the Dow Jones Index lost 250 points on Thursday, or nearly 2%, to close at 12,573. The Nasdaq Composite is down 71 points, or 2.4% to close at 2859

The FTSE 100 index in London fell 1% to close at 5566, the DAX in Frankfurt was down 0.77% and the CAC-40 in Paris was down 0.39%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1.3%.

On Thursday, the Australian 200 Index lost 1%, to 4087. The NZX 50 also lost 1% to close at 3409.

At 8.25am on Friday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 78.60 US cents, 78.35 Australian cents, 50.40 pence, 63.10 yen and 0.62.65 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 71.42.

Brent crude oil was trading at $US89.62 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1566.80 per ounce.