Equities

• Stocks in Asia fell amid concerns Europe’s debt crisis may spread and China may raise interest rates to tame inflation. Exporters rose after a report showed US consumers increased holiday spending
• MSCI Asia Pacific index fell 0.8% to 128.59 in Tokyo, with almost three stocks falling for each that rose
• Shanghai fell 1.6% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.7%
• US stocks declined for the fourth time in five days, as Ireland’s bailout failed to convince investors that Europe’s debt crisis will not spread across the region
  • The S&P 500 lost 0.1% to 1,187.76 while the Dow lost 39.51 points, or 0.4%, to 11,052.49
• European stocks continued their downward trend as worries over the sovereign debt crisis persis
  • The Stoxx 600 fell 1.7% to 262.16 at the 4:30 p.m. close in London

Bonds

• Treasuries increased on higher risk aversion amid speculation debt problems in Ireland will spread to Portugal and Spain
  • The 10-year yields declined three basis points to 2.80% as of 2:26 p.m. in Tokyo
• The 10-year Spanish bond yield increased 28 basis points yesterday to as high as 5.45%, the highest since 2002. The spread in yield over German bunds rose to a euro-era record of 267 basis points

Commodities

• Oil dropped from the highest in two weeks on worries measures to slow China’s economy will decrease the demand for fuel
• The January futures fell as much as 68 cents to $85.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was at $85.42 at 3:01 p.m. Singapore time
• Gold for immediate delivery advanced as much as 0.3% to $1,370.43 an ounce, and traded at $1,368.60 at 3:25 p.m. in Singapore