Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mu Gamma Lambda -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (6421)	9/12/2001 3:02:40 AM
From: Augustus Gloop	Respond to of 10077

The impact will be large and global. Read the bold part at the bottom. Eurostocks Set for Rocky Day By Sophie Walker LONDON (Reuters) - European bourses braced for a bumpy ride on Wednesday, as Wall Street remained closed after a series of terror attacks on the heart of U.S. business and politics, and fund managers warned of a further sell-off here. ADVERTISEMENT Benchmark indices in the euro zone dropped to end-1998 levels on Tuesday after hijacked planes levelled the World Trade Center's twin towers with massive loss of life, and struck also at the Pentagon. Players said they felt pretty much in the dark, with no guidance from Wall Street as the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market announced they would stay closed through Wednesday. ``This is a big shock for the markets, we don't know the consequences for the world economy but some people are looking back to the Gulf War which led to a major recession. Basically we're all in the dark,'' said Bruno Berry, European fund manager at Morley Fund Management in London. ``I'm expecting another big sell-off -- you only have to look at the way Germany went from bad to worse after-hours when other European markets were shut,'' he added. Financial Spreads, a London-based spread-betting firm, called the German DAX to open down 120 points, and the Paris CAC-40 down 100 points. A spokesman for the Deutsche Boerse, which was evacuated after a bomb threat late on Tuesday, said he did not yet know whether the German stock exchange would trade today. One of Frankfurt's biggest office complexes, the Messeturm, was evacuated early on Wednesday and dealers in the city's other main business tower said the atmosphere was fraught. ``We're in one of the highest buildings in Frankfurt, and the airport is not far away. Sure, it's not likely that the same kind of attacks could happen again so soon, but people are very nervous,'' said one trader. Spokespeople for the Madrid and Euronext exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels, said trade would start as normal. Signals from Asian markets overnight were dismal, after Tokyo stocks were hammered 6.6 percent lower, breaching the key 10,000 mark, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dived nearly ten percent in heavy volume. WINNERS AND LOSERS Tuesday's sell-off was across the board, but individual sectors likely to come under pressure again included insurers which were slammed to three-year-lows on the prospect of claims worth billions of dollars. Munich Re and Swiss Re were among the hardest hit. Both said subsequently it was too early to calculate the extent of potential claims. ``I'm expecting enormously high volatility. The markets are shocked and trying to work out who the winners and losers will be in this situation. There will be massive effects on political and business life,'' said Achim Matzke, market analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. Oil stocks were likely to benefit again from panic buying which prompted a 13 percent spike in the price of Brent crude oil futures at one point. But while that might shore up some indices a little, traders said the ramifications would eventually hit home. ``When people wake up to the implications of high oil prices on the global economy...well I'd be very surprised if the U.S. opens less than five percent down when it does eventually open,'' said another dealer. Travel stocks, consumer firms and airlines could again be badly hit as European carriers canceled flights to the U.S. and fears grew over safe flying zones while the U.S. grounded all carriers. Deutsche Bank officials said it had banned its employees from business travel anywhere in the world. Telecoms companies may also come under the cosh as they struggle to cope with disrupted services out of the U.S. and mountains of traffic. FEAR Global markets were already seriously hampered by fearful trading as jitters arose ahead of a slew of U.S. economic data on Friday -- which has now been postponed indefinitely -- and the start of third-quarter earnings pre-announcements. Benchmark indices are now in danger of re-testing the lows of autumn 1998, when the devaluation of the Russian rouble and the following high-profile collapse of hedge fund LTCM sparked the last major pull-back.