Stocks: Monday’s review

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark gauge recovering from its biggest weekly drop in seven months, after Cyprus agreed to an international bailout and profit at China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. topped forecasts.

Nikkei 225 12,546.46 +207.93 +1.69%

Hang Seng 22,251.15 +135.85 +0.61%

S&P/ASX 200 4,990.2 +22.94 +0.46%

Shanghai Composite  2,326.71 -1.56 -0.07%

Sony Corp. gained 3.1 percent as the yen weakened, boosting the outlook at Japan’s No. 1 consumer-electronics exporter.

Sinopec, as Asia’s biggest refiner is known, rose 2.6 percent after net income beat analyst estimates.

Leighton Holdings Ltd. surged 4.3 percent as Australia’s largest construction company appointed Bob Humphris chairman after his predecessor resigned in a dispute with shareholder Hochtief AG over board independence.

European stocks declined as a report sparked concern a rescue plan for Cyprus that involves shrinking its banking system may set a precedent for other euro- area lenders.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index (SXXP) slid 0.3 percent to 293.25 at the close of trading, after rising as much as 1 percent and falling as much as 0.5 percent. The index has still gained 4.9 percent so far this year.

National benchmark indexes fell in 13 of the 17 western European markets open today.

FTSE 100 6,378.38 -14.38 -0.22% CAC 40 3,727.98 -42.31 -1.12% DAX 7,870.9 -40.45 -0.51%

Meyer Burger dropped 5 percent to 6.66 Swiss francs after saying it will raise 150 million francs ($158 million) by selling new stock to existing shareholders. The supplier of machinery to solar-panel makers reported a full-year net loss of 2.33 francs per share.

Remy Cointreau SA declined 2.5 percent to 89.58 euros after Nomura Holdings Inc. lowered its recommendation on the maker of Remy Martin cognac to reduce from neutral, citing a demand slowdown in China.

Vodafone rose 2 percent to 187.2 pence. The Sunday Times reported that Europe’s largest mobile-phone operator held talks with Verizon to sell its stake in Verizon Wireless for $135 billion. The paper cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Metso Oyj (MEO1V) surged 9.6 percent to 33.75 euros, the biggest increase since July 26. The Finnish maker of rock crushers is studying the possibility of separating its pulp, paper and power businesses into a new company that would be listed in Helsinki, according to a statement.

CSM NV rallied 6.4 percent to 17.52 euros, the biggest jump since May, after agreeing to sell its bakery-supplies unit to Rhone Capital LLC for an enterprise value of about 1.05 billion euros. The Dutch maker of bakery supplies and lactic acids, which put up the unit for sale in May, said it expects net cash of about 850 million euros from the deal.

Daily Mail & General Trust Plc increased 2.6 percent to 705 pence after the newspaper publisher left its revenue projection for the year unchanged and said it will continue a share buyback program.

U.S. stocks fell, after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose to within a point of its record high, amid concern Cyprus’s bank-restructuring plan will pave the way for losses on deposits in other European nations.

Equities rallied earlier as Cyprus, the euro-area’s third- smallest economy, met the terms for a 10 billion-euro ($13 billion) bailout after agreeing early this morning in Brussels to shrink its banking system. The finance ministers from the 17- member euro area ratified the country’s accord with the troika of the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.

Europe Banks

Stocks turned lower as Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem said troubled lenders in the euro area must now fend for themselves as part of future euro rescues. German advisers cut the nation’s 2013 economic growth forecast to 0.3 percent, from its previous estimate of 0.8 percent, citing “the sharp decline” of gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The S&P 500 declined 0.2 percent last week for its second weekly drop as Cyprus struggled to raise enough money to obtain the bailout and a report showed euro-area manufacturing contracted more than expected. The gauge has still climbed 8.9 percent in 2013, and advanced today within a point of its record of 1,565.15 set in October 2007 before erasing gains. The Dow reached an intraday high last week after first surpassing its all-time record on March 5.

Most components of DOW index closed in minus. Shares of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT, +0.79%) advanced more than other components. Shares of Bank of America Corporation (BAC, -1.46%) fell more than other components

All sectors of the S&P closed in minus. Most fell showed sector of conglomerates (-1.1%).

At the close:

Dow -61.39 14,450.64 -0.42%

Nasdaq -9.69 3,235.31 -0.30%