Asian stocks down as Greece uncertainty swirls (AP)

BANGKOK ? Asian stock markets fell Thursday for the fourth straight day as a European deal to bail Greece out of its financial mess appeared to be on the verge of unraveling.

Oil prices hovered above $91 per barrel, while the dollar rose against the euro but slipped against the yen.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1 percent to 19,540.28. South Korea's Kospi lost 1.3 percent to 1,872.53 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4 percent to 4,163.30. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia were also lower.

Japanese markets were closed for a national holiday. Mainland Chinese shares rose.

Greece's prime minister unexpectedly announced Monday that he would call a national vote on the European bailout plan that entails painful tax increases and drastic welfare cuts in exchange for massive aid to keep his debt-ridden nation solvent.

European leaders then drew a line in the sand, saying the referendum will determine whether Greece stays in the 17-nation grouping that uses the euro common currency ? and vowing Athens will not get new aid until the result is in.

"Ahead of the vote markets will remain highly nervous and risk aversion will remain elevated. Consequently risk assets are set to face further pressure," Credit Agricole CIB said in a research note.

Should Greek voters reject the austerity plan, it could lead to a messy default on the country's debt that would likely cause massive losses for banks that hold Greek bonds ? and possibly spark a wider financial crisis that could send Europe into recession.

Papandreou is scheduled to explain his stance when he meets with leaders of the Group of 20 nations at a summit in France on Thursday and Friday.

"The whole thing has become a mess and will certainly keep risk assets shackled in the short term, on the premise that there is a real possibility that Greece may vote against the revised bailout and austerity and subsequently find themselves having to fund their massive deficit," Stan Shamu of IG Markets in Melbourne said in a report.

The uncertainty about what lies ahead for the European Union ? the world's largest economic grouping ? as well as the subset of nations that use the euro common currency, hit energy stocks hard.

Hong Kong-listed PetroChina Co., the country's biggest oil and gas company, fell 2.9 percent. State-owned coal miner China Shenhua Energy lost 1.7 percent. Energy Resources of Australia was down 3.2 percent.

South Korea's LG Electronics plummeted 10.4 percent following news reports that the world's No. 3 mobile phone maker was seeking to issue new shares, Yonhap News Agency said.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Lenovo Group, a world leader in personal computer manufacturers, rose 3.6 percent a day after reporting that its profit in the first half of the year nearly doubled on strong emerging market sales.

Losses on the Hang Seng were limited ? and mainland Chinese shares rose ? following signs that China was preparing to ease monetary policy and make more money available for lending, said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai securities in Hong Kong. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 1 percent to 2,527.93 and the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index was 1.5 percent higher at 1,075.88.

"There is positive news coming in on credit in mainland China," he said. "This gives some encouragement to the market."

Beijing has repeatedly hiked interest rates and imposed curbs on investment to prevent runaway growth and cool inflation. But recent signs that prices were moderating have led to expectations that bank lending may be eased.

In the U.S., Wall Street ended higher after an increase in hiring by private companies helped lift stock prices.

Automatic Data Processing said company payrolls rose by 110,000 in October, more than economists had expected. ADP also revised its survey results for September higher. Investors see ADP's report as a precursor to the government's broader employment report, which is due out Friday.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday the economy was likely to expand modestly over the next two years. But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned that the pace of economic growth will likely be "frustratingly slow." The Fed said it would not take any more steps to help the economy for now, but it left open the possibility of more steps later.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 1.5 percent to close at 11,836.04. The Standard and Poor's 500 rose 1.6 percent to 1,237.90. The Nasdaq composite gained 1.3 percent to 2,639.98.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 87 cents at $91.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 32 cents to settle at $92.51 in New York on Wednesday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3686 from $1.3765 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar slipped slightly to 78.02 yen from 78.06 yen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111103/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

brad pitt us constitution us constitution articles of confederation articles of confederation current events current events