Stocks Drop as Treasuries Gain With Gold After China Data

Emerging-markets equities slipped and the dollar retreated while gold and natural gas climbed.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.9 percent as the Dow sank 1.1 percent. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 1.3 percent by 4:44 p.m. in New York after Chinese shares in Hong Kong tumbled. Ten-year Treasury yields sank to a seven-week low and the dollar lost 1.1 percent versus the euro. Gas jumped 0.9 percent and gold rose to the highest level since November. Turkey intervened to stem the lira’s slump while Argentina devalued the peso, sparking the steepest plunge in 12 years.

Chinese factory output may shrink this month, a preliminary survey from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics indicated today as the People’s Bank of China injected more funds to the financial system to ease a cash shortage. In the U.S., applications for unemployment benefits rose in the latest week while purchases of previously owned homes climbed less than projected in December. Microsoft Corp. jumped in extended trading after posting better-than-estimated quarterly earnings.

Read More: www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-22/nikkei-futures-rise-as-yen-drops-oil-to-natural-gas-jump.html