Asian Stocks End Lower; Nikkei Falls 1.1%
NEW YORK (
) -- Asian stocks ended lower Thursday after Japanese machinery orders unexpectedly fell in February.
Core machinery orders in Japan fell 5.4% from a month earlier to 684.6 billion yen ($7.3 billion). It was the second straight month of declines.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 124.63 points, or 1.1%, to 11,168.20. The benchmark index in Shanghai fell 0.9%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 0.3%.
Stocks in Europe were lower. Shares in London and Frankfurt were falling 1.1%; in Paris the stock market was down 1.5%.
Premarket futures in the U.S. suggest stocks will open lower on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell 0.7% to 10,897.52. The
S&P 500
fell 0.6%, while the
Nasdaq
declined 0.2%.
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