Asian markets open as debt talks remain stalled
vibram five fingers kso Asian financial markets slid in early trading Monday as investors watched closely to see whether the impasse in U.S. debt negotiations will prompt a dramatic sell-off on global exchanges.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, which includes major Japanese companies, was down about 0.63 percent in early trading Monday. The Standard & Poor’s 500 /ASX 200 index, a measure of Australia’s blue-chip stocks, was down about 0.86 percent. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI index was down about 0.7 percent.

vibram five fingers bikila Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slid about 0.63 percent in early trading, while Shanghai’s Stock Exchange Composite index was down about 0.73 percent.

Talks between President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) broke down Friday evening and efforts to restart the negotiations in time for the opening of Asian markets did not make progress.

The absence of a bipartisan plan for raising the U.S. debt ceiling, and thus avoiding a potential default on Aug. 2, is fueling concerns in global markets because of the crucial role that U.S. Treasury bonds play in all manner of financial transactions. Some analysts expected investors in Asian markets to price some of that concern into stock values.

vibram five fingers speed “Global markets are going to get more and more jittery the longer we go,” said John Peters, senior economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “Our economy is actually growing quite strongly at the moment,” he added, “but all bets are off when there’s something big looming on the global horizon.”

But Japanese investors have more reason to be worried about the ongoing stalemate in Washington because the Japanese economy is still recovering from March’s earthquake and tsunami.

five fingers kso “I think the stability of the financial market is a precondition for the Japanese economy to recover,” said Katsuyuki Hasegawa, chief market economist with the Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo. “That pre-condition is now being threatened by the development in the States.”

In addition to watching the Tokyo and Sydney exchanges, investors and policymakers are eager to see how trading fares on the exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which are to open shortly.

There were signs late Sunday that markets in the United States would open lower Monday morning.

... [ Read More (0.3k in body) ]