Among the most notable market movers, Palm Inc. (PALM: chart) fell 7.4% in early trading after it rallied 11% Friday on bid speculation. Cirrus Logic Inc. (CRUS: chart) gained 1%, recovering from pre-market weakness. The company said it expects to restate results for 2001 through 2006. In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 42.86, or 0.35%, at 12,071.24. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was off 9.00, or 0.65%, at 1,378.17, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 18.51, or 0.78%, to 2,349.49. Bonds were little changed, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note at 4.50%, the same as late Friday.


9:30AM London equities tumbled heavily Monday tracking weak global markets.
The UK market was lower on Monday. By midday the FTSE 100 was 1.5% lower at 6,027.7, a loss of 89 points.

Advancers

There was some upside despite the carnage. HSBC, London largest-listed bank, reported a 5% rise in pre-tax profit of $22.1 billion. Shares in the company traded 0.9% higher. News that Royal & Sun Alliance completed its exit of the US insurance market on time went down well, sending its shares up 1.2%. Countrywide is also strong, up 3.8%, on reports that a bidding war is possible for the largest estate agent in the UK, as private equity group 3i mulls a counter bid.

Decliners

Resource stocks declined sharply in line with entrenched concerns that the sell-off would undermine demand for metals in emerging economies. Copper prices fell by about 4% on commodities exchanges. Vedanta Resources was 3.5 % weaker with Kazakhmys down 3.3% and Xstrata 4% lower.

Weaker crude prices pressured oil large-caps. BP lost 1.5%, Royal Dutch Shell was 0.6% lower. Cairn Energy lost 4.6%, lifting the prospect of its relegation from the large-cap index as tomorrow’s deadline nears.

Man Group, the largest listed hedge fund in the world, saw its shares track global equities markets lower with a 3.6% fall. British Airways, usually a beneficiary of lower crude prices, fell 8% after it told investors the disposal of its BA Connect regional jet business would cost an extra 20 million pounds.


9:15AM Strong yen and heavy losses for New Century Financial weighed on pre-market sentiment.
U.S. stock futures pointed Monday to a lower opening for another straight session, with the yen posting strength and thus hurting hedge funds. Worries over the health of the U.S. second-biggest subprime lender, New Century Financial (NEW: chart), also generated negative sentiment. Company''s stock tumbled 57% in the pre-open after it said it is a target of a federal criminal probe and is likely to breach a major lending covenant with its financial backers. In corporate news, Research in Motion (RIMM: chart)said its chairman and co-CEO is stepping aside as the BlackBerry maker plans to restate results, cutting earnings by up to $250 million dating to fiscal 2004 because of incorrect dates over stock option grants. S&P 500 futures dropped 10.5 points at 1,375.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 16.75 points at 1,709.50. Dow industrial futures dropped 90 points.


9:00AM Asian markets ended sharply lower Monday with Japan leading decliners.
Asian markets finished lower on Monday. Japanese Nikkei 225 Index fell 3.34% to 16,642.25. Exporters fell amid a surge in the yen, which erodes overseas earnings when repatriated to Japan. The dollar fell to 115.70 yen from 116.75 yen late Friday in New York. Canon shed 2.08%, Toyota Motor fell 3.24% and Sony was down 2.92%.

Hong Kong declined 4% to 18,664.88. Investors are worried about the possibility of further falls to come. Shares of HSBC fell 2.5% ahead of its earnings results, which the company issued after the market closed. Among other large-caps, China Mobile dropped 6%, Hutchison Whampoa fell 3% and China Construction Bank sank 4.9%. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.6% at 2,783.31.

In South Korea shares also shed 2.71% to 1,376.15. Australian index S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2.3% on heavy volume to close at a seven-week low of 5,642.40. The index is down 6.6% from the last month record high of 6,052.1. BHP Billiton led the decliners, with commodity-price weakness giving an added reason to sell resources. BHP shed 2.9%, Rio Tinto lost 2.5% and Woodside Petroleum closed down 4.2%.

Other major markets also declined. Singapore Straits Times Index finished 3.1% lower, at 2,982.29, the Weighted Price Index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed 3.7% lower to 7,344.56 and the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index, ended down 4.6%, at 1,110.69.


8:00AM NY-7:00PM Mumbai Sensex plummets following global sell-off.
The Sensex on BSE finished 471.09, or 3.66%, lower at 12,415.04. The market-breadth was appalling as there were more than ten decliners for every advancer. For 2,363 stocks that declined, only 220 advanced and 28 were unchanged. Of the 30 stocks in the Sensex, only two advanced, while the rest declined. On NSE, the turnover was Rs 8,550.91 crore, lower than Rs 8,960.58.

Economic news

The rupee declined the most in almost four months as a collapse in global stocks extended to a second week, raising speculation that foreign funds will sell riskier assets including emerging-market shares. The rupee fell 0.6% to Rs 44.5725 against the dollar, the biggest drop since November 13.