Japan's Stocks Fall, Extending Nikkei Streak, on Profit Concern
Japanese stocks fell, pushing the Nikkei 225 Stock Average's losing streak to the longest in 54 years, on concern a worsening U.S. auto market and surging crude oil prices will curb corporate earnings.
Nippon Sheet Glass Co., the world's largest maker of car windows, sent a gauge of glassmakers to the lowest in more than two months. Mitsubishi Corp., which gets half of its profit from commodities, dropped the most in more than a month. Softbank Corp., Japan's fastest-growing mobile carrier, jumped as investors flocked to companies resistant to an economic slowdown.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 20.97, or 0.2 percent, to close at 13,265.40, its 11th-straight drop and the longest losing streak since a 15-day stretch in May 1954. The Topix index dipped 3.13, or 0.2 percent, to 1,298.02 in Tokyo. Two shares fell for each that gained on the Topix.
Nippon Sheet Glass fell 4.8 percent to 492 yen and NGK Insulators Ltd., a maker of engine filters, sank 4.5 percent to 1,987 yen. Nippon Steel Corp., the world's second-biggest steelmaker, tumbled 2.9 percent, while smaller rival JFE Holdings Inc. sank 3.9 percent.
A gauge tracking glassmakers dropped to the lowest since April 24 and led declines among 33 industry groups on the Topix. Steelmakers were the third-biggest declining group, following trading companies.
Mitsubishi, the nation's largest trading company, tumbled 4.4 percent to 3,450 yen, the biggest drop since May 23. Mitsui & Co., which owns a stake in a Brazilian iron mine, slid 3.6 percent to 2,310 yen, the lowest since June 5.
Shinsei Bank Ltd. gained 4.5 percent to 372 yen, its first gain in five days. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest publicly traded bank, jumped 3.2 percent to 949 yen. NTT Urban Development Corp. climbed 3.9 percent to 134,000 yen and bigger rival Mitsubishi Estate Co. rose 2.1 percent to 2,405 yen.
Banks and developers, which were the biggest winners among groups on the Topix today, fell about twice as much as the Topix over the past month through yesterday.
Softbank, which will start selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone in Japan, added 2.5 percent to 1,903 yen, the sharpest gain since June 5. NTT DoCoMo Inc., the nation's biggest wireless carrier, rose 1.9 percent to 164,000 yen and rival KDDI Corp. advanced 1.3 percent to 650,000 yen.



European Stocks Rise on Trichet Comments; SocGen, Siemens Gain
European stocks rose for the first time in three days, led by banks and insurers, after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet eased concern policy makers would keep lifting interest rates to contain inflation.
Societe Generale SA and Allianz SE rallied after Trichet signaled today's quarter-point rate increase was enough. Siemens AG and L'Oreal SA led gains among companies that rely on North America for at least a fifth of their sales as the dollar strengthened against the euro. AstraZeneca Plc jumped to the highest since January after MF Global Ltd. recommended buying shares in the U.K.'s second-largest drugmaker.
National benchmark indexes rose in 12 of the 18 western European markets. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed 0.9 percent. France's CAC 40 gained 1.1 percent, and Germany's DAX advanced 0.8 percent.
ociete Generale, France's second-largest bank, climbed 4.9 percent to 56.22 euros. Allianz, Europe's biggest insurer, advanced 2.1 percent to 110.84 euros.
Credit Agricole SA, France's third-largest bank by market value, rallied 6 percent to 13.22 euros and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc gained 4.4 percent to 213 pence.
Siemens rose 1.9 percent to 69.32 euros, snapping a five-day drop. Europe's biggest engineering company generates about 21 percent of its revenue in the U.S. L'Oreal, the world's largest cosmetics maker, climbed 2.1 percent to 68.16 euros. The company makes about a quarter of its sales in North America.
The euro declined the most against the dollar in more than three weeks. European government bonds rallied, recovering from earlier declines.
AstraZeneca led an advance in health-care shares, rising 3.6 percent to 2,314 pence. MF Global lifted its recommendation on the stock to ``buy'' from ``neutral'' after a U.S. court yesterday upheld a patent on AstraZeneca's second-best selling product, the Seroquel antipsychotic. The brokerage also raised its price projection 11 percent to 2,600 pence.
Celesio AG, Europe's biggest drug wholesaler, rallied 4.6 percent to 22.57 euros after Web site apotheke-adhoc.de said a European court will hear the DocMorris case challenging German restrictions on pharmacy ownership, citing people with information of the scheduling. DocMorris is using European laws to get around German rules that regulate the pharmacy market.
Syngenta AG, the world's biggest maker of agricultural chemicals, sank 4.9 percent to 298 Swiss francs and potash producer K+S AG retreated 5.5 percent to 313.52 euros on concern that a decline in soybean prices may hurt orders for pesticides and fertilizers.
The price of soybeans dropped today after the worst flooding in the U.S. Midwest for 15 years had boosted their value to a record. Soybeans for November delivery fell as much as 2.1 percent to $15.96 a bushel.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, slipped 3.5 percent to 53.97 euros on concern slowing economic growth will reduce demand for metals.

Blue chips rally despite oil
Dow and S&P 500 jump after ending the previous session at bear market levels. Investors eye mostly in-line jobs report and dollar strength after ECB hike. Nvidia drags on techs.
Blue chips gained Thursday morning as investors took in stride higher oil prices and a mostly in-line jobs report - and breathed a sigh of relief that the dollar held up despite a rise in interest rates overseas.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained almost 1% nearly 2 hours into the session, thanks to a bounce in GM after the previous session's battering and some strength in financial shares.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 0.2%, with a nearly 30% slump in chipmaker Nvidia exerting pressure.
Oil prices continued to advance Thursday after settling at a record $143.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the previous session. U.S. light crude for August delivery rose 62 cents to $144.19 after hitting an electronic trading record of $145.85 earlier.
Prices have already risen more than 50% this year in response to tight supply and tensions in the Middle East.
Company news: GM gained nearly 3%, after plunging 15% Wednesday to a near 54-year low, following an analyst downgrade that raised worries about its cash position and the possibility of bankruptcy.
Nvidia shares slumped almost 30% in early trade after warning late Wednesday that current-quarter sales won't meet forecasts due to slower global demand. The graphics chipmaker also said its gross margin - a key measure of profitability - won't meet forecasts.
In the bond market, Treasury prices were little changed, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 3.96%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The euro fell the most against the dollar in more than three weeks after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet signaled that he may not increase interest rates again.
The 15-nation euro also dropped against the pound as Trichet said that he has ``no bias'' or ``pre-commitment'' following the decision to raise the ECB's main refinancing rate by a quarter-percentage point to 4.25 percent. His comments helped counter a Labor Department report showing U.S. employers eliminated jobs in June for a sixth consecutive month.
Today's interest-rate increase will help the central bank bring inflation back below 2 percent, Trichet said at a press conference in Frankfurt. Economic growth may weaken to 1.5 percent next year from 1.8 percent this year and 2.6 percent in 2007, according to ECB staff.
Traders reduced bets the ECB will increase rates further this year. The implied rate on the December Euribor interest- rate futures contract fell to 5.14 percent, from 5.28 percent yesterday. The yield advantage of two-year German bunds over comparable-maturity Treasury notes decreased to 1.92 percentage points, making the European securities less attractive to investors.
When Trichet signaled after the June 5 policy meeting that an interest-rate increase this month was ``possible,'' the euro increased 1 percent against the dollar.
U.S. payrolls fell by 62,000 last month, following a revised decline of 62,000 in May, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The median forecast of 81 economists was for a reduction of 60,000. The jobless rate remained at 5.5 percent after jumping in May by the most in two decades.
The dollar briefly pared its gain against the euro after a report showed U.S. service industries unexpectedly contracted in June as orders and employment fell. The Institute for Supply Management's index of non-manufacturing businesses, which make up almost 90 percent of the economy, decreased to 48.2, the lowest since January, from 51.7 in May. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between growth and contraction.
Futures on the Chicago Board of Trade showed an 18 percent chance the Fed will increase its target rate for overnight lending between banks by a quarter-percentage point at its Aug. 5 meeting, compared with 25 percent odds yesterday.