The wave of increased sales, which covered yesterday the securities markets in Europe and the U.S. broke today and Asian stock exchanges. Although it was expected, the decision by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s to cut the credit rating of Greece and Portugal brought sharp decreases in the indexes and the risk premium on government securities of the two countries jumped sharply. Regional stock measure MSCI Asia Pacific, which brings together public companies from 10 Asian countries plus Australia and New Zealand slid 1.6 percent to 125.20 points today. This is his fourth decline in five trading session, and meanwhile the cost of insurance to protect against the failure of Asian countries reached its highest level since February. Stock prices of raw materials and the euro rate fell because of concerns that the fiscal crisis in Greece will be released in the eurozone. President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet will meet with German politicians and the head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Berlin today to discuss a possible rescue plan for Greece. All ten industry groups included in the MSCI Asia Pacific, noted a sharp drop as financial companies ran among the losers. Among national indexes in the region most Japanese Nikkei fell 225, which slid 2.6 percent to 10 924.79 points as investors shrugged off a strong 5-percent increase in retail sales in Japan in March.
Shares of Japanese exporters fell due to the appreciation of the yen, which their goods more expensive abroad and reduces the realized gain on foreign markets. More expensive Japanese currency against all other major currencies today and the most against the euro and Swiss franc, because it is used by investors as a refuge in times of economic uncertainty. The second most loser index in the region today was Hang Seng, which fell 1.5 percent to 20 949.40 points, mainly because decrease for banks and companies in the housing sector. In China, Shanghai Compoiste broad index decreased by 0.3% to 2 900.33 points and Australia S & P / ASX 200 fell 1.2 percent to 4 822.80 points largely because of sales in mining companies.
Earlier today it became clear that inflation in Australia has doubled in the first quarter and accelerate to 2.9 percent annually, which exceeded forecasts the central bank. It strengthened investor expectations that next week Australia’s central bank may again raise its key interest rate and also outweigh quotations on the stock exchange in Sydney.