Azernews.Az

European stocks fell, extending their first week of losses this month, while U.S. and China equity-index futures dropped. The dollar trimmed declines and Treasuries pared gains after data signaled inflation was starting to firm.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid 1.5 percent at 8:41 a.m. in New York, leaving it 1.9 percent lower for the week. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.6 percent. Chinese stock-index futures tumbled after regulators clamped down on the use of shadow financing for equities and expanded the supply of shares available for short sellers. The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.88 percent. The dollar slipped 0.2 percent to $1.0784 per euro. Oil in New York fell 0.9 percent to $56.22 a barrel.

Stocks fell in Europe for a second day after reaching a record high on Wednesday. Declines accelerated with the release in China of updated rules on margin trading and short selling. The value of global equities this month surpassed $70 trillion for the first time as central banks from Asia to Europe boosted stimulus while investors assessed the timing of the first U.S. rate increase since 2006.

“We’ve become a bit more cautious over the past few months because markets have been rallying pretty rapidly,” said Dirk Thiels, head of investment management at KBC Asset Management in Brussels. “Expectations for an earnings rebound in Europe make sense, but valuations are pricing in a lot.”

The U.K. Debt Management Office postponed a 3 billion-pound ($4.5 billion) sale of bills after an outage affected Bloomberg LP, the operator of a debt-auction system.

By Bloomberg

“We are currently restoring service to those customers who were affected by today’s network issue and are investigating the cause,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

China Futures

FTSE China A50 Index futures for April delivery tumbled 5 percent in Singapore. The China Securities Regulatory Commission banned the margin trading businesses of brokerages from taking part in umbrella trusts, while the Securities Association of China said fund managers can lend shares for short selling.

The Stoxx 600 is heading for its first weekly drop in three. Syngenta AG slid 4.6 percent after first-quarter sales missed analyst projections. SKF AB tumbled 7.5 percent after the world’s biggest maker of bearings reported operating profit growth that fell short of estimates.

U.S. equity-index futures signaled the S&P 500 may erase this week’s 0.1 percent gain.

Mattel Inc. rose 5.3 percent in German trading after reporting a smaller first-quarter loss than analysts projected. Earnings at S&P 500 companies probably fell 5.6 percent in the first three months of the year and will decline each quarter through September, analysts estimate.

Consumer Prices

The cost of living excluding food and fuel increased 0.2 percent in March for a third month, matching estimates, a Labor Department report showed. Including the volatile costs of food and energy, the index also rose 0.2 percent.

Other data Friday will probably show the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index increased in April, and a gauge of leading indicators increased in March more than the previous month, economists forecast. Reports released Thursday showed U.S. housing starts rising less than estimated in March, while jobless claims unexpectedly increased last week.

“The overall dynamics have slowed down,” said Benedict Goette, founder of asset-management firm Compass Capital AG in Zurich. “There’s a lack of demand for U.S. stocks and there could be some portfolio shifts from the U.S. because we see some deterioration of macroeconomic data.”

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a gauge of the currency against 10 major counterparts, slid 0.3 percent amid a weekly retreat of 1.8 percent, the most in a month.

Federal Reserve officials continued to provide conflicting signals Thursday, spurring fluctuations in Treasuries. Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer sent Treasuries tumbling last session after reminding investors that the central bank wants to boost key borrowing costs. Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart then halted the selloff, saying he wanted to see both falling unemployment and quickening inflation prior to the first rate increase.

The pound climbed 0.6 percent to $1.5030 after U.K. jobless claims dropped to the lowest rate in 40 years.

The cost of insuring European debt rose, with the Markit iTraxx Crossover Index of credit-default swaps on high-yield companies heading for the biggest weekly increase since December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The benchmark climbed 27 basis points this week to a two-month high of 270 basis points.

Credit-default swaps insuring $10 million of Greek debt for five years rose to $5.3 million in advance and $100,000 annually, according to CMA. That signals an 83 percent probability of default, up from 80 percent yesterday.

--With assistance from Ben Sharples in Melbourne, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo, Emma O’Brien in Wellington, Cecile Vannucci, Sofia Horta e Costa and Abigail Moses in London and Roxana Zega in Zurich.