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LONDON – Global stocks stuttered on Thursday at the end of a tough month asunease over Europe's crisis and a run of weaker than anticipatedU.S. economic data kept market sentiment in check. Over the past month, the financial and political problemsafflicting Greece, Spain and the 17-country eurozone as a wholehave weighed heavily on world markets. U.S. stocks are set tosuffer their first negative month since last summer, oil priceshave slid and the euro has fallen to a near two-year low againstthe dollar. European indexes struggled to hold onto gains on Thursday, with theFTSE 100 index of leading British shares closing up only 0.2percent at 5,306.95. Germany's DAX ended 0.3 percent lower at6,264.38 while the CAC-40 in France closed less than 0.1 percenthigher at 3,017.01. In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.3 percentto 12,384 while the broader S&P 500 index was 0.6 percent lowerat 1,306. The weaker than anticipated performance on Wall Street, whichdragged down European markets, was due to some disappointing U.S.economic data ahead of Friday's key jobs figures, which often setthe market tone for a week or two after their release. "What we didn't need .... was for U.S. figures to come in belowexpectations," said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG Index. The ADP payrolls firm reported Thursday that private employersadded 133,000 jobs in May, slightly below market expectations,while weekly jobless claims figures from the government reported a10,000 increase. U.S. economic growth in the first quarter was alsorevised down, as anticipated, to an annualized rate of 1.9 percentfrom the previously reported 2.2 percent. Analysts said the data suggested the official payrolls data dueFriday may be somewhat weaker than the 160,000 increase expectedbefore the figures came out. "Today's ADP report is expected to lower consensus expectations forFriday's nonfarm payroll number to 100,000 to 130,000 andcontributes to a further deterioration in the U.S. economicoutlook," said Michael Woolfolk, an analyst at the Bank of New YorkMellon. Beyond the U.S. payrolls figure, the debt crisis in Europe willlikely remain the focus of attention in the markets in the weeksahead, not least because Greece goes to the polls again in ageneral election that is widely-viewed as a referendum on thecountry's continued use of the euro. Though opinion polls show that four in five Greeks want to retainthe euro, others show a split in support for parties that want tostick to the country's international bailout commitments and thosethat don't. The worry in the markets is that the anti-austerityparties will win, prompting a halt in Greece's bailout, which couldlead to its bankruptcy and eventual exit from the eurozone. Though Greece is the epicenter of the debt crisis, Spain has been agrowing source of worry over recent weeks. Its banking system isunder the microscope, especially after Bankia, the country'sfourth-largest lender, last week announced it needed 19 billion($23.8 billion) in state aid. Investors are worried that Bankia's woes might be replicated acrossSpain's banking sector, which has suffered badly from the collapseof the construction sector. An economic recession and unemploymentat almost 25 percent are fueling concern that the country willbecome the fourth euro country to be bailed out after Greece,Ireland and Portugal. The problem for the eurozone is that Spain's economy alone isdouble the size of the three countries already bailed-out, andinvestors are skeptical whether a rescue operation can be mounted.The yield, or interest rate, on Spain's ten-year bond is around 6.5percent, not far from the 7 percent threshold that is considered tobe unsustainable in the long-run and eventually forced the otherthree bailouts. Increasing numbers of experts say that the euro, in its currentform, cannot survive. "We may just be approaching the endgame where either the eurozoneand/or the European Central Bank takes action to stem the bleedingor the whole thing collapses, with the trigger point being thetrend in Spanish bond yields," said Gary Jenkins, managing directorof Swordfish Research. Ireland will hold a referendum on Thursday to decide whether thecountry should adopt Europe's newly-agreed fiscal treaty to puttough controls on governments' budget spending. The referendum isexpected to approve the treaty, but similar polls were proved wrongwhen Ireland voted to reject the EU's last two treaties in 2001 and2008. A "no" vote would mainly damage Ireland itself, because itsexisting loans will run dry by the end of 2013 - and the treatyrestricts future access to the EU's rescue fund to those nationsthat accept the new budget rules. Other eurozone countries wouldstill be able to adopt the treaty even if Ireland rejects it. In the currency markets, the euro remained under pressure, trading0.1 percent higher at $1.2379, near its lowest level since July2010. Earlier, Asian stocks fell sharply, tracking developments in Europeand the U.S. the previous day. Japan's Nikkei 225 index tumbled 1.1 percent to close at 8,542.73,its lowest finish since mid-January. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.3percent to 18,629.52 and South Korea's Kospi was down marginally at1,843.47. Oil prices remained under pressure, with benchmark oil for Julydelivery down$1.44 at $86.38 per barrel in electronic trading onthe New York Mercantile Exchange. _____ Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report. I am an expert from silicone-wristwatch.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Silicone Wrist Watch Manufacturer , Led Digital Wrist Watch Manufacturer, Silicone Ice Watch,and more.
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