High-yield/macroeconomics (fka YIELD)

[Preciouslife1]

U.S. Futures Fall; S&P 500, Dow Contracts Drop to `Limit Down'

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amV1xqk.4OQ4&refer=home
By Michael Patterson

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures tumbled, sending contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index down by their daily limit, as lower sales and profits at automakers and technology companies heightened concern the financial crisis is infecting the broader economy.

General Motors Corp. declined 11 percent and Ford Motor Co. lost 7 percent after Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second- largest automaker, reported its first sales decline in seven years. Apple Inc. fell 8.4 percent as Samsung Electronics Co., Asia's largest maker of chips and mobile phones, had its biggest profit drop in more than three years. Exxon Mobil Corp. lost 5.7 percent as oil and gasoline prices retreated.

``Investors are surprised by the full-stop in the underlying global economy,'' said Espen Furnes, an Oslo-based money manager at Storebrand Asset Management, which oversees the equivalent of $48 billion. ``It's everywhere now.
I don't think any major economies will escape this.''

S&P 500 futures expiring in December fell 60, or 6.6 percent, to 855.2 as of 11:40 a.m. in London. Dow futures dropped 550, or 6.3 percent, to 8,224, while Nasdaq-100 Index futures retreated 82.5, or 6.6 percent, to 1,171.

The S&P 500 futures will not trade below 855.20 until U.S. exchanges open for regular trading at 9:30 a.m. New York time, said Jeremy Hughes, a London-based spokesman for the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Dow Average futures won't trade below the 8,224 level, he said. The ``limit down'' suspension allows both contracts to trade above those levels, he said.

`Out of Control'

``Financial markets have crashed and are out of control,'' said Yuji Ogino, an executive director at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $28 billion in Tokyo. ``This crash is different from anything I've experienced since getting into this business.''

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index slumped 9.2 percent today and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 4.9 percent.

The MSCI All-Country World Index, a gauge of equity markets in developed and emerging nations, has tumbled 47 percent this year as a freeze in credit markets sparked by $659 billion of asset writedowns and credit losses at banks raised concern that the global economy is headed for a recession. About $30 trillion of market value has been erased from global equities in 2008, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

GM, the biggest U.S. automaker, dropped to $5.44 in Germany and Ford, the second-largest, declined to $1.86.

Toyota sold about 2.236 million vehicles worldwide in the three months ended Sept. 30, down 4.3 percent from 2.336 million a year earlier. GM will release its third-quarter sales figure on Oct. 29.

Automakers

Volvo AB, the world's second-largest maker of heavy trucks, cut its industry growth outlook for this year, and PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe's second-biggest carmaker, cut its full-year targets.

Apple, the maker of iPhones and iPods, dropped to $90.01. Intel Corp., the world's largest chipmaker, declined 3.5 percent to $14. Samsung's profit tumbled as oversupply drove down prices of semiconductors.

Earnings at the 200 companies in the S&P 500 that reported third-quarter results so far dropped by an average of 23 percent, trailing analysts' expectations by 1.6 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

General Electric Co., the economic bellwether whose products range from lightbulbs to power-plant turbines, dropped 5 percent to $17.86. The company said it plans to use the Federal Reserve's new short-term funding facility when it starts next week.

Microsoft Corp. retreated 6.8 percent to $20.81 even as the world's largest software maker reported profit and sales that beat analysts' projections.

Exxon, Chevron

Exxon, the biggest U.S. oil company, declined to $66.37. Chevron Corp., the second-largest, lost 5 percent to $63.40.

Crude futures fell as much as 7.1 percent to $63.05 a barrel in New York on speculation a potential OPEC output cut will fail to stave off price declines as global economic growth slows and fuel demand wanes.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index dropped 7.5 percent after the economy shrank for the first time since 1992. South Korea's Kospi Index sank 11 percent as the country's economy grew at the slowest pace in four years.

The yen climbed against the dollar as the risk of a global recession prompted investors to slash carry trades, in which they fund purchases of higher-yielding assets with the Japanese currency.

Treasuries rose, headed for their biggest weekly gain since 1995. The 10-year yield fell 35 basis points this week, the most since May 1995, on speculation government and central bank efforts to revive lending won't avert a global slowdown.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Patterson in London at [e-mail].

Last Updated: October 24, 2008 06:49 EDT