19/12/2011 12:45
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died
Stocks (MXAP) fell for the first time in three days, the dollar rose and the won dropped to a two-month low after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died and as European finance ministers prepare to discuss the region’s debt crisis, bloomberg.com reports.
The MSCI All Country World Index slid 0.7 percent at 8:01 a.m. in London, halting a two-day gain, and South Korea’s Kospi index slumped 3.4 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.2 percent. The dollar climbed 0.3 percent to $1.3012 against the 17-nation euro and rallied 1.4 percent against the South Korean won. Oil declined for a fourth day in New York and copper dipped 1 percent.
Kim, 70, died on Dec. 17 of exhaustion brought on by a sudden illness, the official Korean Central News Agency said. Euro-area finance ministers are seeking to meet a self-imposed deadline for drawing additional aid to the debt crisis through the International Monetary Fund and put together new budget rules. France is set to sell as much as 7 billion euros ($9.1 billion) of bills after Fitch Ratings last week reduced its outlook for the nation’s credit grade to negative from stable.