Stocks in Asia, Europe Post Wide Losses

Stocks in Asia and Europe fell, and stock market futures in the U.S. are indicating wide losses at the opening as early Monday Lehman Brothers (LEH Quote) said it plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and Bank of America(BAC Quote) agreed to acquire Merrill Lynch (MER Quote)in a $50 billion all-stock transaction.

Many stock markets in Asia, such as those in Japan and Hong Kong, were closed for a holiday. But the major market indices in Australia and New Zealand were posting losses of as much as 2%, while stocks in India were down more than 5%, and the Philippines markets fell more than 4%.

The FTSE 100 index in London fell 2.8%, while the CAC in Germany fell 3.5%.

Futures in the U.S. also were indicating wide losses. Futures on the S&P 500 were down 35.40 points to 1223.10, and 29.83 points below fair value. Nasdaq futures fell 40 points to 1739.50, and were 37.20 points below fair value.

The dollar fell against the yen. Treasuries and gold rose overnight.