World stock markets fall as gains are cashed in

BANGKOK – World stock markets fell Friday as investors turned cautious and took profits from recent rallies in spite of evidence pointing to an improving U.S. employment picture.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index retreated 0.5 per cent to close at 13,485.14, a slip from the day before when the Tokyo benchmark closed above 13,500 for the first time since August 2008. The Nikkei has been riding high on the Bank of Japan’s aggressive new approach to jolting the world’s third-largest economy out of a prolonged slump.

Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.5 per cent to 6,382.75. Germany’s DAX shed 1 per cent and France’s CAC-40 lost 0.8 per cent to 3,747.31. Wall Street also appeared set for losses after a week of record-setting gains. Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.1 per cent to 13,779 and S&P 500 futures lost 0.1 per cent at 1,585.50.

Evan Lucas of IG Markets in Melbourne said profit-taking was putting pressure on Australia’s resource-heavy benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which rose 0.2 per cent to 5,015.50.

“This will unfortunately dampen what has otherwise being a solid week for the local market, and may see stronger downside pressure in the afternoon as it is the end of the week and investors will close up positions,” he said in a commentary.

BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, slipped 0.2 per cent. Rio Tinto Ltd. dropped 2 per cent. But Woodside Petroleum Ltd. rose 3.2 per cent after the energy company said it has shelved a proposed 45 billion Australian dollar ($47 billion) liquefied natural gas plant in northwestern Australia because of rising costs for the project.

South Korea’s Kospi tumbled 1.3 per cent to 1,924.23, as jitters persisted over tensions on the Korean Peninsula. India’s Sensex fell 1.5 per cent to 18,269.16. Benchmarks in Indonesia and Thailand rose. Mainland Chinese shares were nearly unchanged. Taiwan’s fell.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.1 per cent to 22,089.05. Market turnover was subdued, as traders kept a recent outbreak of bird flu in eastern China on their radar screens. Ongoing tensions and war-like rhetoric between North and South Korea were also stirring concerns.

“There may be some profit taking because Hong Kong had a technical rebound for the whole week after a big drop last Friday,” said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong. “There is still a lot of uncertainty, especially before the weekend. No one knows what will happen, so maybe profit taking is reasonable.”

Wall Street stocks ended higher Thursday after major retailers such as Rite Aid surged after turning in better sales and weekly claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly dropped. Investors were awaiting JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. quarterly results later in the day.

Also due Friday are reports from the U.S. Commerce Department on retail sales data for March and business inventories for February.

Benchmark oil for May delivery was down 50 cents to $93.01 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The euro fell to $1.3065 from $1.3112 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 99.31 yen from 99.88 yen.

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