With investors continued skepticism that the European Union accord reached last Friday in Brussels will resolve the eurozone's debt crisis, Asian shares continued their downward swing Thursday.
That fear manifested itself in the deteriorating condition of Italian 5-year bonds, which recently sold at a record coupon yield of 6.47% considered painful if not unsustainable.
Japanese shares ( EWJ , quote ) were down 0.98%; Chinese shares ( YAO , quote ) fell 1.06%; Singaporean shares ( EWS , quote ) fell 1.35%; Australian stocks ( EWA , quote ) dipped 1.44%; and South Korean shares ( EWY , quote ) dropped 1.80%.
Shares of scandal-ridden Olympus plunged a whopping 20% after the company, engulfed in an accounting scandal, revealed a $1.1 billion shortfall in its books yesterday.
Australian mining firms also continued to take a hit. Shares of Australia's BHP Billiton ( BHP , quote ) fell 1.8%, while Rio Tinto ( RIO , quote ) fell 2.8%, a 10-week low, amid falls in copper prices as well as gold and oil.
On its first day of trading, Hong Kong's Chow Tai Fook , the world's largest jeweler, fell 8.4% as demand for equity slumps amid slowing growth in China and Europe's debt crisis.
Asian and European currencies rose against the dollar. China's yuan appreciated 0.04% to 6.3735 to the dollar. By Thursday morning in New York, the British pound rose 0.29% to $1.551.
The euro, meanwhile, increased 0.16% to $1.3001, after falling below the $1.30 mark yesterday for the first time since January.
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.