The Dow Jones industrial average fell 104.22 points, to 9,867.96. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 12.65 points, or 1.17 percent, to 1,066.95. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 12.62 points, or 0.59 percent, to 2,141.85. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 1.2 percent lower at 996.50 points. On Monday European stocks fell for a third session in a row as a sharp drop in oil and a rebound in the dollar caused a late selloff. The Nikkei fell 150.16 points to 10,212.46 and marked its biggest one-day percentage drop since Oct. 2. The Topix lost 1.7 percent to 895.48.
Japanese companies, are aiming to secure supplies of rare metals and rare earth elements that are vital to many technology products. By the end of the year Toshiba aims to agree a deal with Kazatomprom – in order to extract rare metals such as beryllium, tantalum, dysprosium and neodymium. For the first time in over a year German consumer sentiment declined going into November. The consumer sentiment indicator from GfK market research eased slightly to 4.0 for November from a downwardly revised 4.2 for October – its first drop since September 2008. According to a survey by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), investor confidence in the stock market has reached a three-and-a-half -year high.

Due for release today is the AUD NAB Business Confidence, CHF UBS Consumption Indicator, GBP U.K. CBI Distributive Trades, USD S&P/Case-Shiller Composite-20 and USD Consumer Confidence, JPY Large Retailers’ Sales, JPY Retail Trade s.a. and JPY Retail Trade.

By Greg Secker

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