World stocks held near a three-month low yesterday despite strong US job data and the euro traded close to a one-year trough, weighed down by persistent fears over the eurozone debt crisis.
The better-than-expected jobs figures, showing the US economy added 290,000 non-farm payroll jobs last month, did not give lasting support to risky assets. US stocks opened lower and oil prices erased gains.
Sterling, which is also sensitive to risk aversion, bounced off an earlier one-year low against the US dollar after comments from Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg lessened the risk of a political stalemate and ratings agencies said Britain’s AAA status was not under threat from the election.
PHOTO: EPA
The Dow Jones suffered its biggest ever intraday point drop on Thursday as concerns about the euro debt woes persisted and investors feared further escalation in the crisis would hit growth and sentiment.
In Taiwan, share prices closed slightly lower yesterday, recovering most of the losses incurred earlier in the day on bargain-hunting, with the TAIEX index moving down 12.38 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 7,567.10.
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said the government would not issue any policy instructions on recent fluctuations on the Taiwan Stock Exchange because it wants the bourse to develop in a healthy manner.
Stressing that the government’s main role in stock trading is to prevent irregularities and scandals, Wu said the Cabinet is focused on creating a favorable economic environment for healthy stock market development.
Despite the recent stock market falls, Wu said there are still many encouraging economic news reports.
“I hope stock investors will remain calm and will refrain from panicking,” he said.
The MSCI world equity index fell 0.8 percent, having hit its lowest level since February. The index is on track to post its biggest weekly loss since November 2008.
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