Posted on 05/23/2013 7:19:17 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A global rally in stocks came to an abrupt halt Thursday as a 7% plunge on Japan's Nikkei index unnerved investors in Europe and set the tone for a weak opening on Wall Street. European markets fell by 2% and U.S. stock futures were pointing lower in the wake of the biggest one-day drop on the Nikkei since the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster. Germany's DAX lost 2.4% and France's CAC 40 was down 2.1%.
Investors were rattled by weak economic data from China and indications that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start dialing down its bond-buying program as early as June. In Japan, the yen was rising and yields on 10-year Japanese government bonds hit 1% for the first time in months, tracking a rise in yields on U.S. Treasuries.
Analysts said the sell-off reflected concerns that the Japanese rally had gone too far too fast. The Nikkei has surged by more than 70% over the last 12 months.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Did they halt trading?
The Fed hints at cutting off the Heroin and the markets take a nose dive. Helluva economy you got there, Ben.
The funny thing is watching the cheerleader press come up with reasons for the drop without every mentioning the whispered FED cutback on QE as a factor.
Bernake and friends have no suckers left at the table to fleece. He is now trapped in his strategy of funding the stock market to convince people all is well. I read somewhere that pension plans have been sitting on bonds and cash since 2007 and refuse to jump into the market in spite of Bernake trying to force them into doing that.
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