Stocks across Asia continued their downward spiral Friday amid investor worry that Europe's leaders would not be able to secure the funds to resolve the Eurozone's continuing debt crisis.
Indices across the Asia-Pacific showed losses as French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that only 23 of the European Union's 27 members would take part in an accord -- rather than a treaty -- to implement tougher rules and penalties on national budgets and spending.
Losses were significantly bigger than yesterday, with Chinese shares ( YAO , quote ) were down 1.91%, Japanese shares ( EWJ , quote ) down 2.44%, South Korean shares ( EWY , quote ) down 3.17% and Australian stocks ( EWA , quote ) down 3.19%.
Samsung did better than expected, dipping just 1% after an Australian court lifted a ban on the sale of the electronics manufacturer's Galaxy tablet. The decision follows a U.S. court ruling rejecting a plea from arch-rival Apple ( AAPL , quote ) to ban Galaxy sales in the U.S. after Apple argued Samsung copied its designs.
In Brussels, the push to get all 27 members to agree to a new treaty failed after British Prime Minister David Cameron said, "What was on offer wasn't in British interests, so I didn't agree to it."
Cameron added that Britain "would never join the euro" as long as he is prime minister, further isolating Britain from the continent.
By Friday morning in New York, the euro was up 0.44% to $1.3401 against the dollar, while the British pound rose 0.45% to $1.5699.
Likewise, the yuan rose 0.04% to 6.3641 against the dollar by Friday evening local time.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.