Stocks tumbled, the euro weakened to a one-month low and copper dropped for a fifth day as Europe’s debt crisis drove Italian bond yields above 7 percent, Japanese machinery orders fell and Chinese exports grew at a slower-than- forecast pace.
The MSCI All Country World Index sank 1.3 percent at 8:02 a.m. in London and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 1.3 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 futures slid 0.3 percent. The euro lost as much as 0.4 percent against the dollar. Italy’s 10-year yield jumped 12 basis points to 7.37 percent. The Markit iTraxx Asia Index of debt-default risk headed for the highest close since Oct. 11. Copper dropped 3 percent and rubber fell 7.3 percent.
Italy will seek to sell 5 billion euros ($6.8 billion) of Treasury bills today after yields on 10-year notes surged past the 7 percent level at which Greece, Ireland and Portugal sought international bailouts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union may adopt a motion at a party congress next week to allow euro members to exit the currency area, a senior CDU lawmaker said.
