JEDDAH/NEW YORK – Global financial markets drifted lower Monday as growing concerns about the state of the world economy offset any remaining optimism over central banks' stimulus efforts. The latest dose of gloomy economic news came from Germany, where the Ifo index of business confidence fell for the fifth month in a row. Germany is an economic powerhouse, but 43 percent of its exports go to its euro partners. And growth is stalling across the other 16 countries in the eurozone. The Saudi stock benchmark Tadawul All Share Index fell 1 percent Monday to close at 6,960.65 points, with all sectoral indices in the red, except agriculture & food industries and insurance, which managed to close in positive territory, gaining 0.05 percent and 0.62 percent, respectively. Oil prices also fell Monday, dragged down by worries about weaker economic growth around the world. Benchmark crude dropped $1.23 to $91.66 per barrel around midday Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil fell more than 6 percent last week. In London, Brent crude was down $1.89 to $109.53 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. In currency markets, the euro weakened to $1.2909 from $1.2989 in late trading Friday while the dollar fell to 77.91 Japanese yen from 78.15 yen. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British companies fell 0.2 percent to close at 5,838.84 and France's CAC 40 dropped 1 percent to 3,497.22. Germany's DAX shed 0.5 percent to 7,413.16. In New York, Wall Street likewise dropped — the Dow was down 0.2 percent to 13,554.32 while the broader S&P 500 dropped 0.3 percent to 1,455.69. Earlier, Asian markets closed lower. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.4 percent to close at 9,069.29 while Seoul's Kospi index was roughly unchanged at 2,003.44. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.2 percent to 20,694.70 while Sydney's ASX S&P 200 fell 0.5 percent to 4,385.50. Benchmarks in Singapore, Indonesia, New Zealand and India also fell. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to close at 2,033.19, reversing losses earlier in the day. However, the benchmark is still at its lowest point since January 2009. – SG/Agencies
