European and Asian stocks fell Friday after economic reports suggested growth will weaken in the world's major economies, according to AP. Downbeat data on Germany, China and the U.S. added to uncertainty over whether European leaders will make progress in tackling their debt crisis at key meetings. Germany's Ifo institute reported that business optimism fell for a second straight month in Europe's largest economy, which has been growing more strongly than the 17-member eurozone as a whole. The survey index dipped to 105.3 from 106.9 in May. That followed a U.S. Labor Department report from Thursday that the four-week average of applications for unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level in nine months. Appetite for financial assets such as stocks was also dented by the results of a monthly HSBC survey, which showed that manufacturing in China has continued to contract. China's growth has been a pillar of the global economy in recent years, so its slowdown has been of particular concern to investors. Meanwhile, infighting over Europe's heavy debt burden continued, leading IMF head Christine Lagarde to warn that the euro is under "acute stress" and to urge leaders of the 17 countries that use the currency to consider steps such as jointly issuing debt. European leaders will meet June 28-29 in Brussels but there is no clear sense that they can agree on any of the several proposals to address the debt crisis. Against that background, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.6 percent to 5,532.76, while the French CAC 40 eased 0.2 percent to 3,105.52 and the German DAX 30 blue chips index fell 0.5 percent to 6,312.81. US share index futures pointed higher ahead of the opening of trading in New York. The Dow industrials future rose 0.4 percent to 12,552.00 and the Standard & Poor's 500 future rose 0.5 to 1,324.80 In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.2 percent to 8,802.54 and South Korea's Kospi slid 2.1 percent to 1,848.57. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 1 percent to 19,067.51 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 1 percent at 4,046.70. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia fell while the Philippines rose. Markets in mainland China were closed for a public holiday. Benchmark oil for August delivery was up 48 cents to $78.68 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The euro rose 0.1 percent to $1.2555. The dollar rose 0.1 percent to 80.31 yen.
