China tax axes Asia gains

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks fell for the first time in three days after China tripled the tax on securities transactions, causing the biggest slump in the region's best performing equity market in three months.

Citic Securities Co. posted its biggest loss since January, leading a plunge of 6.8 per cent in the CSI 300 Index. The Chinese benchmark has almost doubled this year, recovering from a February 27 tumble that started a global rout and wiped about $3.3 trillion off the value of equities worldwide.

China Life Insurance Co. fell to a seven-week low in Hong Kong on concern the sell-off will spread to other markets in the region. Cnooc Ltd. and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. led a drop in energy stocks after oil dropped the most in more than seven weeks.

Benchmarks declined around the region, except in South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand, where the SET Index gained the most in more than three months.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index slid 0.6 per cent to 148.24 at 7:28 p.m. in Tokyo, snapping a two-day, 0.9 per cent advance. The measure dropped 7 per cent in the four days after February 27. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.5 per cent.

Europe

European stocks dropped the most in two months after China increased taxes on securities trades, sparking concern that global shares face another sell-off.LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, Standard Chartered and BHP Billiton led a decline by companies most dependent for revenue in the world's fastest growing major economy. Total SA and BP Plc fell after oil slumped yesterday.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index dropped 0.8 percent to 391.18 as of 1:04 pm in London. All 18 industry groups slid. The Stoxx 50 declined 0.9 per cent as did Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro. National benchmarks fell in all 18 western European markets. France's CAC 40 slid 1 per cent, while the U.K.'s FTSE lost 0.9 per cent. Germany's DAX slipped 1.1 per cent.

US

US stock-index futures retreated after China tripled the tax on securities transactions, sending shares in Asia and Europe lower and sparking concerns about another global rout.

General Electric Co, the world's biggest provider of power-plant turbines, and Honeywell International Inc, the largest maker of airplane controls, led a decline among companies dependent on China for sales. S&P 500 futures expiring in June lost 7.1 to 1515.4 as of 8:17am in New York.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 58 to 13,500. Nasdaq-100 Index futures declined 10.5 to 1896.

US real-estate shares, which surged yesterday on takeover speculation, may move again today. Shares of Simon Property Group, the largest US real estate investment trust, and seven other companies in the industry were raised to "buy" at Deutsche Bank AG after Tishman Speyer Properties LP and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc agreed to buy Archstone-Smith Trust for $13.5 billion.