Asian markets vs. European markets and Wall Street. Who will win?

The financial crisis that eats world economy does not have any mercy on anybody and anything. Everyday we earn about someone’s failure, drop in shares, bankruptcy. The oil prices recalls in brains a kind of cardiogram…. Actually the economic downturn is a kind of exams that filters and gets rid off the weakest market participants. And there is no difference between the markets. However, lately Western traders more and more pay attention to Asian markets. China becomes a real leader showing its power by purchasing with easiness the world brands that have to sell their properties to survive in tough economic times. Today we would like to introduce you to the current situation on Asian, Europen, and other markets described by RealTimeTraders.com including various fluctuations, electronic transactions, credit cards and many others. The report shows the influence of western markets and the indexes on Asian markets.  

Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended in the red on Wednesday following steep losses on Wall Street overnight on concerns that the U.S. government's latest plan to rescue the ailing U.S. banking sector lacked specifics to thaw credit markets and ease the deepening recession. However, the sell-off was not as severe as the one that was witnessed in the U.S. overnight. The Japanese market was closed on Wednesday for a public holiday. 

Crude oil price was last trading at $38.17 a barrel, up 1.65% in late Asian trading on evidence that output cuts by OPEC are starting to take effect, after a report released by industry trade association, American Petroleum Institute on early Wednesday showed a two-million-barrel drop in oil inventories in the United States.

Oil prices plunged 5% on Tuesday as traders showed concern that the government plans to aid the struggling economy might not be enough to help plunging energy demand. Light sweet crude for March settlement dropped to $37.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $2.01 on the session. 

Stocks on Wall Street plummeted overnight on concerns about the efficacy of the Obama administration's financial rescue plan as it failed to provide clarity on how it will handle the toxic assets of banks that are driving losses and write-downs on bank balance sheets. Much of the weakness in the markets came after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner outlined a plan to restore credit flows, with some traders expressing concerns that the Treasury Secretary did not provide enough details about the plan. 

The major averages ended the session firmly in negative territory, just off their worst levels of the day. The Dow closed down 381.99 points or 4.6 percent at 7,888.88, the Nasdaq closed down 66.83 points or 4.2 percent at 1,524.73 and the S&P 500 closed down 42.73 points or 4.9 percent at 827.16. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate passed an $838 billion fiscal stimulus plan by a vote of 61-37. The measure passed a key procedural hurdle Monday evening when the stimulus garnered 60 votes needed to pass cloture. The legislation is now one step closer to Obama's desk, as both bodies of Congress - the House and the Senate - must now reconcile the two versions of the bill. 

The Australian market ended lower following steep losses on Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed at 3,474, down 14 points or 0.41% and the broader All Ordinaries index fell 10 points or 0.31% to 3,418. 

Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.08% despite reporting a lower profit and keeping its first-half dividend unchanged at A$1.13. "In the current uncertain economic environment we cannot guarantee to maintain future dividends at past levels," its chairman John Schubert said. 

However, other banks such as National Australia Bank, ANZ, and Westpac closed in negative territory. 

Miners closed mixed following lower prices of base metals on the LME. BHP Billiton tumbled 2.94% and Illuka Resources ended down 1.90%, while Rio Tinto surged up 6.21% ahead of its earnings announcement on Thursday. 

Gold miners also ended mixed. Newcrest Mining rose 1.09%, while Lihir Gold fell 1.25%. Among retailers, Woolworths added 0.04% and Harvey Norman Holding gained 1.50%, but David Jones fell 1.77% and JB Hi-Fi tumbled 4.63% on profit taking following significant gains on Tuesday. 

Gloves and condom maker Ansell fell 2.41% after the company downgraded its full year earnings per share guidance for 2008/09. Stockland slumped 4.26% after the company posted a first-half net loss of $726.9 million on account of inventory write-downs related to housing lots and its UK business. 

Printer PMP plunged 19.23% after it posted a net profit loss of $11.1 million for the first half of the financial year amid challenging market conditions. 

Agricultural chemicals supplier Nufarm tumbled 3.10% even as the United Kingdom Competition Commission approved its acquisition of UK-based phenoxy herbicides supplier AH Marks. 

Building products maker Boral finished flat after its first-half profit plunged 44% due to worsening housing conditions in the U.S. and Asia. 

Telstra Corporation edged up 0.28%. The company said that it has bought controlling stakes in two Chinese mobile and online music businesses for an undisclosed amount to accelerate its plans to achieve $1 billion in revenue from Chinese online and mobile assets by 2013. 

In economic news, consumer confidence in Australia slumped 4.6% for February compared to the previous month, according to the monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey released on Tuesday. 

The survey reflected an index score of 85.8 for February, down from January's 89.9. The February figure marks the second consecutive month that the index shows a score of below 100, which separates a positive outlook from a negative one. 

The survey also showed that individuals expecting economic conditions to improve over the next five years plummeted 16.5 percent. Other components in decline included the economy over the next year and family finances over the next year. 

In another development, the number of home loans in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 6.4 percent in December compared to the previous month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That was higher than analyst expectations that called for a 3.5 percent gain after the 1.3 percent increase in November.

South Korea's KOSPI slipped 9 points or 0.72% to 1,190 following Wall Street's negative reaction to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's plan to overhaul the nation's financial rescue plan for U.S. banks. Volume was at 461.4 million shares worth 4.2 trillion won (US$3.01 billion) and advancers outnumbered decliners by 432 to 417. 

Financial stocks closed sharply lower on concerns that the U.S. government's bank bailout plan may not be enough to thaw credit markets. Korea Exchange Bank fell 2.02%, Woori Finance declined 2.25% and KB Financial, the holding firm of Kookmin Bank tumbled 3.76% 

KB Financial Group said on Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings reached 43.9 billion won (US$31.3 million) with its flagship banking unit logging its first quarterly loss in four years. Sales amounted to 18 trillion won in the October-December period and operating profit reached 33.8 billion won, the group said in a regulatory filing. 

Among the major decliners, technology stock Hynix Semiconductor tumbled 4.05%, market heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 1.35%, steel maker POSCO plummeted 2.82%, automaker Kia Motor slipped 0.47%, energy stock KEPCO declined 1.78% and telecom stocks KT and SK Telecom fell 1.26% and 1.97% respectively. 

On the other hand, Ssangyong Motor surged up 4.25%, Shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding jumped 4.49% and Hyundai Heavy rose 2.06%, Korean Air Line gained 1.88% and technology stock LG Display LCD added 0.90%. 

Hyundai Motor, Samsung Industries and LG Electronic closed flat. 

In economic news, South Korea's jobless rate held steady at a seasonally adjusted 3.3% in January, for the third consecutive month, data released by the National Statistical Office showed. Economists expected the jobless rate to come in at 3.5%. 

During the month, there were 808,000 unemployed persons, down from 812,000 persons in December. Meanwhile, the number of employed persons decreased slightly to 23.48 million in January from 23.54 million in December. 

In January, there were 24.28 million persons in the labor force, down from 24.35 million in the previous month. The participation rate declined to 60.9% from 61.2% in December 

The central bank is expected to cut interest rates to a record low on Thursday to boost consumer spending and investment growth. 

The New Zealand market finished a lackluster day lower, in line with the weakness across the Asia-Pacific region after stocks on Wall Street tumbled overnight. The benchmark NZX-50 index closed at 2,730, down 20 points or 0.72%. 

Among leading shares, Vector declined 1.79%, Nuplex tumbled 3.14% and Sky City slipped 1.34%, while TrustPower advanced 0.13% and Contact Energy rose 0.60%. Other top stocks Pumpkin Patch and Steel & Tube closed flat. 

Telecom fell 1.52% as it is expected to report a drop in its second-quarter earnings due to loss of customers from its fixed-line network. 

Dual-listed banking stocks ANZ fell 1.36% and Westpac shed 0.64% following sharp losses among their U.S. peers overnight. Fisher & Paykel Appliances tumbled 3.57% on concerns that a drop in consumer demand due to the global slowdown will hit the company hard. 

New Zealand's biggest construction company Fletcher Building slipped 0.36% even as the New Zealand government announced a NZ$500 million infrastructure plan to fast-track school, state housing and transport spending to help kick-start the economy. The company is likely to post a 20% decline in its first-half earnings. 

Retailer Hallenstein Glasson lost 0.45% and Jeweler Michael Hill slumped 3.77% on concerns about profit outlook due to a tough retail market. However, Warehouse Group rose 0.57% even as government data showed that credit and debit card transactions at retailers declined 0.2% last month 

In economic news, a report by Statistics New Zealand said the seasonally adjusted value of electronic card transactions was unchanged month-on-month in January, after declining for the past two months. Electronic transactions in retailing industries fell 0.6% in January, led by declines in fuel retailing and durables industries. This was the third consecutive month of decline in retail card transactions. Card transactions in core retailing, which excludes motor vehicle related industries, fell 0.2% in January following a 0.2% increase in December. 

Among the other markets in the region, China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.19% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index tumbled 2.46%, while Singapore's Straits Times index rose 1.10%, and Taiwan's TWII Weighed index also ended up 1.10%.

That was a short just a short but detailed report that would help anyone to understand and estimate the situation and to answer one of the most relevant questions: What’s going on?