European stocks retreated, with the Stoxx Europe 600 Index paring an earlier tumble, after the euro area forced Cyprus to adopt a levy on bank deposits, prompting concern that the region’s debt crisis will reignite.

While Cyprus accounts for less than half a percent of the 17-nation euro area’s economy, the raid on bank accounts risks a resumption of the financial crisis that began in 2009 in Greece. Moody’s Investors Service said that the move limits support for bank creditors across Europe and shows that policy makers will risk disrupting financial markets to avoid sovereign defaults.

The levy enabled the euro area to lower its bailout of Cyprus to 10 billion euros ($13 billion) from an original figure of about 17 billion euros. President Nicos Anastasiades will try to persuade lawmakers to back the plan. Parliament postponed a vote due to take place this afternoon. Cyprus will leave its banks closed until March 21, a government official said, declining to be identified.

National benchmark indexes fell in every western-European market that opened today except Ireland and Iceland. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.5 percent, while Germany’s DAX declined 0.4 percent. Luxembourg’s LuxX Index dropped 2.2 percent today, its biggest slide in seven months.

A gauge of bank shares sank 1.5 percent for the worst performance on the Stoxx 600. UniCredit lost 3.6 percent to 3.69 euros, while Societe Generale SA, France’s second-largest lender, slid 3.3 percent to 28.98 euros. Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest bank, dropped 2.3 percent to 5.83 euros.

Ericsson lost 2.2 percent to 83.50 kronor after agreeing to wind down the ST-Ericsson joint venture and divide the assets. The electronics companies failed to find a buyer for the business. STMicroelectronics will incur cash costs of $350 million to $450 million, lower than the charges it had estimated in January. The shares climbed 5.4 percent to 6.17 euros.

Marks & Spencer Group Plc surged 6.9 percent to 398.1 pence, its biggest gain in almost four years. The shares earlier rallied as much as 9.4 percent after the Sunday Times reported that Qatar Investment Authority has considered an 8 billion- pound ($12 billion) bid for the U.K.’s largest clothing retailer. The newspaper cited unidentified people working in the City of London. A person close to the sovereign-wealth fund said today that QIA has not considered making an offer.

West Texas Intermediate crude pared losses as equities came off intraday lows after European policy makers signaled flexibility on the application of an unprecedented bank tax in Cyprus.

Futures slipped for the first time in three days as the levy on bank savings threatened to worsen Europe’s debt crisis. While demanding that the tax raise the targeted 5.8 billion euros ($7.6 billion), officials said easing the cost to smaller savers was up to Cyprus.

Finance ministers in the euro area reached an agreement on March 16 forcing depositors in Cypriot banks to share in the cost of the latest bailout.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades will try to persuade lawmakers to back a plan to impose a bank tax on the island nation’s depositors as part of a 10 billion-euro ($13 billion) bailout aimed at preventing a financial collapse and a possible departure from the euro area. A vote on the tax was delayed for a second day until tomorrow.

Banks in the island nation will remain shut tomorrow and March 20, a government official said, asking not to be identified.

Oil also pared losses after Oil Minister Abdulbari al-Arusi said Waha Oil Co.’s pipeline in Libya was shut because of a strike at its Gialo field, cutting the country’s crude output by 120,000 barrels a day.

WTI for April delivery declined to $91.76 a barrel and later climbed to $93.44 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after falling to $91.76.

Brent for May settlement dropped 66 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $109.16 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Volume was 12 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $15.48 to WTI for the same month. That’s down from $16 on March 15 and is the lowest level since January.

Gold prices topped $ 1,600 an ounce for the first time in more than two weeks because of the new investors' fears about the debt crisis in the eurozone.

Euro zone finance ministers proposed a tax on deposits in banks in Cyprus, so he could get 10 billion euros of financial assistance. Parliamentary vote on the issue, originally scheduled for today, has been postponed indefinitely, until Friday, as the Cypriot authorities continue to negotiate the terms of financing, in particular - the taxation of contributions of less than 100 thousand euros.

Demand in the physical market of Asia declined with the increase in prices, the dealer in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Investors are waiting for the outcome of the Fed meeting, which will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday to assess the attitude of the central bank to stimulate action. Stocks of the world's largest gold-exchange-traded fund (ETF) SPDR Gold Trust, meanwhile fell by 3.311 tonnes to 1.232,996 tons - the minimum amount since October 2011.

April futures price of gold on COMEX rose to 1610.40 dollars per ounce.

EUR/USD $1.3000, $1.3050, $1.3055, $1.3060, $1.3100, $1.3190, $1.3200

USD/JPY Y95.70, Y96.00, Y96.05, Y96.50, Y97.00

GBP/USD $1.4800, $1.4900, $1.5000, $1.5100, $1.5250

AUD/USD $1.0400, $1.0425, $1.0430

Перед открытием рынка фьючерс S&P упал (-0.82%) до уровня 1540.75, фьючерс NASDAQ потерял 0.79% до уровня 2768.50 пункта.

U.S. stock-index futures fell as euro-area leaders imposed a levy on Cypriot bank deposits to cut the cost of a bailout, sparking concern the measure may one day be used in the bigger economies of Spain or Italy.

Global Stocks:

Upgrades:
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley
Verizon (VZ) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral to Buy at Citigroup Upgrade
United Tech (UTX) upgraded to Overweight from Neutral to Buy at Citigroup

Other:
United Tech (UTX) reiterated at Mkt Perform at FBR Capital, tgt raised from $88 to $95

Data

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (MoM) March +2.8% +1.7%

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (YoY) March +1.1% +1.2%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (MoM) February -2.4% 0.0%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (YoY) February +10.8% +9.4%

06:45 Switzerland SECO Economic Forecasts Quarter II

10:00 Eurozone Trade Balance s.a. January 10.3 3.4 9.0

EUR/USD

Offers $1.3110, $1.3000, $1.2975/85

Bids $1.2980/70, $1.2860/50, $1.2825/20, $1.2800/790

GBP/USD

Offers $1.5250/60, $1.5220/35, $1.5200, %1.5180

Bids $1.5050/40, $1.5010/00, $1.4965/60

AUD/USD

Offers $1.0455/60, $1.0450, $1.0415/20, $1.0400, $1.0390

Bids $1.0340/30, $1.0310/00, $1.0285/80

EUR/JPY

Offers Y124.45/50, Y124.00, Y123.45/50, Y123.36

Bids Y122.10/00, Y121.50, Y121.20/15, Y121.00, Y120.80

EUR/GBP

Offers stg0.8695/700, stg0.8680/85, stg0.8650, stg0.8600

Bids stg0.8505/00, stg0.8450/40, stg0.8410/00

USD/JPY

Offers Y96.25/30, Y96.00, Y95.50, Y95.30/40

Bids Y94.50/40, Y94.10/00, Y93.85/80, Y93.50/40, Y93.30/20

European (SXXP) stocks tumbled the most in more than two weeks after the euro area forced Cyprus to adopt a levy on bank deposits, prompting concern that the single currency’s debt crisis will reignite. U.S. index futures and Asian shares also sank.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.9 percent to 294.82 at 8:47 a.m. in London, its biggest drop since March 1. Cypriot and Greek stock markets are closed for a holiday today.

While Cyprus accounts for less than half a percent of the 17-nation euro area’s economy, the raid on bank accounts risks a resumption of the financial crisis that began in 2009 in Greece. Moody’s Investors Service said that the move limits support for bank creditors across Europe and shows that policy makers will risk disrupting financial markets to avoid sovereign defaults. Cyprus’s President, Nicos Anastasiades, will try to persuade lawmakers to back the plan. The levy enabled the euro area to lower its bailout of the country to 10 billion euros ($13 billion) from an original figure of about 17 billion euros.

Ericsson lost 1.8 percent to 83.85 kronor after agreeing to wind down the ST-Ericsson joint venture and divide the assets. The Swedish and Italian companies failed to find a buyer for the business. STMicroelectronics will incur cash costs of $350 million to $450 million. The Italian company said the charges were lower than it had estimated in January. STMicroelectronics climbed 1.8 percent to 5.96 euros.

Commerzbank declined 1.7 percent to 1.18 euros. The stock was cut to neutral from outperform at Credit Suisse.

BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, retreated 1.1 percent to 2,042 pence.

Marks & Spencer Group Plc surged 5.2 percent to 392 pence. The shares earlier rallied as much as 9.4 percent after the Sunday Times reported that Qatar Investment Authority has considered an 8 billion-pound ($12 billion) bid for the U.K.’s largest clothing retailer. The newspaper cited unidentified people working in the City of London. Reuters cited an anonymous source as saying that the investor is not considering a bid.

At the moment:

FTSE 100 6,439.36 -50.29 -0.77%

CAC 40 3,794.49 -49.54 -1.29%

DAX 7,953.74 -89.11 -1.11%

EUR/USD $1.3000, $1.3050, $1.3055, $1.3060, $1.3100, $1.3190, $1.3200

USD/JPY Y95.70, Y96.00, Y96.05, Y96.50, Y97.00

GBP/USD $1.4800, $1.4900, $1.5000, $1.5100, $1.5250

Asian stocks headed for the biggest decline in eight months, led by raw-material producers, amid concern an unprecedented levy on bank deposits in Cyprus will plunge Europe back into crisis and that China will increase efforts to curb property prices.

Nikkei 225 12,220.63 -340.32 -2.71%

Hang Seng 22,083.36 -449.75 -2.00%

S&P/ASX 200 5,015.4 -104.84 -2.05%

Shanghai Composite 2,240.02 -38.39 -1.68%

Every benchmark gauge in the Asia-Pacific dropped, with the regional measure shedding about $180 billion in share value, equivalent to seven times the size of Cyprus’ economy. 

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, slid 3.4 percent as the yen gained against all its major peers. 

Esprit Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based clothier that counts Europe as its No. 1 market, dropped 2 percent. 

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) fell 2.4 percent in Sydney, leading mining companies lower.

The dollar fell to a one-week low against the euro, as the report showed that the level rose more than expected. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index rose 0.7 percent in February after he remained at a minimum level in the previous three months. Economists had expected the consumer price index increased by 0.4 percent. The inflation rate in the measurement of the maximum monthly from June 2009. Meanwhile, the core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.2 percent in February after increasing 0.3 percent in January. Increase in price corresponds to the estimates of economists. The rise in prices has occurred as a consequence of a sharp rise in energy prices, which have jumped in February to 5.4%, while food prices rose only 0.1%.

The U.S. currency is sent to its first weekly decline against the Euro currency since early February, as many participants are waiting for the meeting of the Open Market Committee, which will take place week. It is assumed that this meeting may be revised terms of asset-purchase program, known as quantitative easing, or QE.

The pound rose sharply against the dollar in the first half of trading after the Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said that the politicians are not trying to weaken the currency. Pound close to the maximum level against the dollar this month, while the King, in an interview with ITV News said that "the market determine the exchange rate, and not of us." Once in the past couple quarters of the Bank of England King gave a verbal intervention against the high rate of the national currency, now he changed the tone of his statements and "finds comfort current levels by the pound." But in spite of this strengthening, the pound rose sharply in the second half of the session, helped by weak U.S. data. Note that in March consumer sentiment index, calculated by Reuters and the University of Michigan, dropped to a mark of 71.8 was significantly lower than the forecast 78.2 and February's 77.6 result. Published data have disappointed the markets, especially the expectations of Michigan preliminary index un-ta/Reuters, which in March fell to 61.7 against 70.2 in February. At the same time, a preliminary index of current conditions un-ta/Reuters Michigan in March fell to 87.5 against 89.0 in February. Index of 5-year inflation expectations at Michigan un-ta/Reuters in March rose by 2.9%, while the 12-month inflation expectations un-ta/Reuters Michigan in March added 3.3%.

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index poised to advance for a fourth week, after U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly dropped and Japan’s upper house confirmed Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor.

Nikkei 225 12,560.95 +179.76 +1.45%

Hang Seng 22,533.11 -86.07 -0.38%

S&P/ASX 200 5,120.24 +88.02 +1.75%

Shanghai Composite 2,278.4 +8.12 +0.36%

Honda Motor Co., a Japanese carmaker that gets 44 percent of sales from North America, gained 2.6 percent.

Sony Corp. surged 11 percent in Tokyo after Daiwa Securities Group Inc. recommended buying shares of the consumer electronics maker.

China Southern Airlines Co. advanced 4.4 percent to pace gains among Chinese carriers after Shanghai Securities News reported plans to build more airports as demand grows in the world’s second-largest economy.

European (SXXP) stocks declined from a 4 1/2-year high, as European Union leaders eased constraints on national budgets amid a deepening euro-area recession, while confidence among American consumers unexpectedly slid in March.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.4 percent to 297.46 at the close of trading. The gauge added 0.7 percent this week, for a fourth straight weekly advance, its longest winning streak since December.

National benchmark indexes fell in all of the western European markets except Switzerland.

FTSE 100 6,489.65 -39.76 -0.61% CAC 40 3,844.03 -27.55 -0.71% DAX 8,042.85 -15.52 -0.19%

In the U.S., the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary sentiment index for March fell to 71.8 from 77.6 in February. The gauge was projected to increase to 78, according to the median estimate of economists.

Volkswagen’s preferred shares declined 2.6 percent to 160.30 euros. Waddell & Reed sold 914 million euros ($1.19 billion) of the stocks, after they touched a four-month low yesterday on the carmaker’s 2013 outlook. The 5.78 million shares were sold for 158 euros each, a 4 percent discount to yesterday’s close, Deutsche Bank AG said.

Vivendi (VIV) lost 3.3 percent to 16.10 euros. The company halted the planned sale of GVT after failing to get a satisfactory bid for the division, which had been valued at 5.2 billion euros.

Ingenico, a French provider of payment terminals and services, declined 2.9 percent to 44.64 euros. Safran’s Morpho will sell 6.6 million Ingenico shares, or a 12.57 percent stake, in a private placement, while retaining a 10.2 percent stake.

Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna Scarl jumped 10 percent to 6.01 euros. Exane BNP Paribas raised its target price for the shares by 5 percent to 8.30 euros, citing the benefits of the bank’s funding structure, which is based on retail deposits.

Major stock indexes rose to session lows, but still finished trading in the red. For the week DOW index rose 0,74%, Nasdaq rose 0,09%, S & P500 gained 0.55%.

U.S. stocks fell, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index moved within two points of its record high yesterday, as a report showed consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in March.

Equities declined today as the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary sentiment index for March fell to 71.8 from 77.6 in February. The gauge was projected to increase to 78, according to the median estimate of 67 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Industrial production rose more than forecast in February as U.S. factories turned out more business equipment and motor vehicles. Output at factories, mines and utilities climbed 0.7 percent, exceeding the median projection in a Bloomberg survey, figures from the Federal Reserve showed today in Washington. Separate data showed manufacturing in the New York region expanded for a second month in March and industry managers grew more optimistic about the future.

Most components of DOW index closed in minus. Shares of Bank of America Corporation (BAC, +4.00%) advanced more than other components. Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM, -1.98%) fell more than other components

Most sectors of the S&P closed in minus. Most fell showed technology sector (-0.5%). Most growts showed financial sector (+0.9%).

At the close:

Dow -23.19 14,515.95 -0.16%

Nasdaq -9.86 3,249.07 -0.30%

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (MoM) March +2.8% +1.7%

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (YoY) March +1.1% +1.2%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (MoM) February -2.4% 0.0%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (YoY) February +10.8% +9.4%

The euro dropped to its lowest level this year against the dollar after an unprecedented levy on bank deposits in Cyprus threatened to derail the nation’s bailout and spark a new round in Europe’s debt crisis.

The 17-nation euro declined by the most in three weeks against the yen as investors sought haven assets after Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades bowed to demands by euro-area finance ministers to raise 5.8 billion euros ($7.5 billion) by taking a piece of every bank account in Cyprus. Scenes of Cypriots lining up at cash machines raised the specter of capital flight elsewhere and threatened to disrupt a market calm that settled over the 17-member currency bloc since the European Central Bank’s pledge in September to backstop troubled nations’ debt.

The yen rose against all 16 major peers after Anastasiades delayed a vote on the measure in parliament until today.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $ 1.2885-25.

GBP / USD: during the Asian session, the pair traded in the range of $ 1.5070-25.

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (MoM) March +2.8%

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (YoY) March +1.1%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (MoM) February -2.4%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (YoY) February +10.8%

06:45 Switzerland SECO Economic Forecasts Quarter II

10:00 Eurozone Trade Balance s.a. January 12.0 3.4

12:30 Canada Foreign Securities Purchases January -1.92 7.85

22:15 Australia RBA Assist Gov Debelle Speaks March