Equities rebound as Dubai fears wane

Written by Reuters
Tuesday, 01 December 2009 17:20

LONDON: Worries about Dubai's debt slipped away on financial markets on Tuesday, Dec 1 allowing stocks to put in solid gains and weakening low-yield assets such as the dollar, according to Reuters.

The catalyst was an announcement late on Monday from Dubai World, centre of the debt storm, that its planned restructuring of some units involved $26 billion in debt, easing some concerns about the size of Dubai's financial problems.

MSCI's all-country world stock index was up 0.9 percent while its emerging markets counterpart gained more than 1 percent.

"The market is acknowledging that the Dubai crisis is contained to the region itself," said Heino Ruland, strategist at Ruland Research, in Frankfurt.

European shares bounced back from Dubai-triggered falls in the previous session. Th FTSEurofirst 300 was 1.6 percent higher, having fallen 1.4 percent on Monday.

Banks were among the strongest gainers, having been hit by fears of exposure to possibly defaulting Dubai debt.

The crisis hit last week when Dubai told creditors of Dubai World and property group Nakheel that debt repayments could be delayed.

The fear added to investors' desire to lock in some of 2009's market profits ahead of the new year.

Reuters polls released on Monday showed global investors cutting back on riskier assets even before the Dubai announcement.


YEN FALLS ON BOJ

The return of relative risk appetite drained the dollar of support, sending it down 0.4 percent against a basket of major currencies.

Much attention on the currency markets, however, was focused on Japan where the Bank of Japan fell short of expectations for more aggressive easing measures to support the economy.

It said it would introduce a new operation to provide funds for three months at a fixed interest rate of 0.1 percent, in a bid to enhance monetary easing by trying to bring down longer-term rates.

The dollar was up three-quarters of a percent at 86.94 yen and the euro rose 1 percent against the Japanese currency.

"I think it's a bit disappointing for the markets especially when they could have done much more ... such as increasing quantitative easing, raising JGB buybacks," said Mitul Kotecha, global head of FX strategy at Calyon in Hong Kong.

"The market was looking for more, and that is one reason why dollar/yen has dropped so sharply after the move."

Longer-dated euro zone government bond prices fell as stocks rose and the Dubai worries waned. - Reuters