BANGKOK – Global stock markets rallied Tuesday as China’s still robust growth in the final quarter of 2011 eased fears of an abrupt slowdown in world’s second-largest economy.

Benchmark oil rose above $100 per barrel, while the dollar fell against the yen and the euro.

In early European trading, Britain’s FTSE rose 0.8 percent at 5,702.64. Germany’s DAX was 0.9 percent higher at 6,278.23 and France’s CAC-40 rose 1 percent to 3,255.78. Wall Street was also set for a higher opening after a three-day holiday. Dow Jones industrial futures rose 0.7 percent to 12,482 and S&P 500 futures gained 0.7 percent to 1,298.50.

Shares in mainland China and Hong Kong shot up after the release of government figures showing that growth in China slowed in the final quarter of 2011 to 8.9 percent, its lowest rate in 2 1/2 years.

Markets welcomed the news, as growth had been expected to settle at 8.7 percent, analysts said.

“That means China’s economy is not slowing down as quickly as expected. That gave an overall boost to market sentiment,” said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

The slowdown was also in line with government plans to cool China’s overheated economy. Analysts expect Beijing to try to stimulate growth this year with an interest rate cut or other measures to free up money for lending.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng soared 3.2 percent at 19,627.75. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 4.2 percent, the most in over two years, closing at 2,298.38. The Shenzhen Composite Index of China’s second, smaller exchange, surged 5.1 percent to 860.25.

“The gains were mainly due to the data released today, which beat the forecasts,” said Li Jianfeng, an analyst at Caida Securities, based in Shanghai. But he said the room for further gains was limited since the general trend is toward slower growth.

The news that China’s economy expanded 8.9 percent in October-December was seen as evidence that Beijing may have staved off a “hard landing” for the economy, though it also prompted expectations authorities may act to support growth.

Comments by Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng signaling the lack of any timetable for introducing an “international board” of foreign company shares in Shanghai also encouraged investors who worry such moves might put added pressure on share prices.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1.1 percent to close at 8,466.40. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.8 percent to 1,892.74. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.7 percent to 4,215.60.

Investor sentiment still faces multiple headwinds — the latest being Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the eurozone’s rescue fund by one notch to AA+.

Gains overnight in gold, copper and oil helped commodity shares. Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd., China’s biggest gold miner, soared 12.5 percent.

Hong Kong-listed China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest oil refiner that is also known as Sinopec, surged 4.7 percent. China National Offshore Oil Corp., or CNOOC, added 5.3 percent.

Australian mining shares were also big gainers, including uranium miner Paladin Energy, which leapt 11.8 percent after it reported record production in the three months to December and reaffirmed its full-year production targets.

U.S. markets were closed Monday for a public holiday.

In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.2756 from $1.2670 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.60 yen from 76.96 yen.

Benchmark oil for February delivery jumped $1.75 to $100.45 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 40 cents to settle at $98.70 in New York on Friday.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed from Shanghai.

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BANGKOK – Asian stock markets rose Tuesday, buoyed by a successful sale of French government bonds and China’s economic growth slowing less than expected.

Benchmark oil rose to near $100 per barrel, while the dollar fell against the yen and the euro.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index added 0.8 percent to 8,447.77. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.9 percent at 19,373.30 and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.6 percent to 1,889.09. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.5 percent to 4,210.70.

Shares in mainland China briefly slipped into negative territory before recovering after the release of government figures showing that growth in the world’s second-largest economy slowed in the final quarter of 2011 to 8.9 percent, its lowest rate in 2 1/2 years.

Markets welcomed the news, however, as growth was expected to settle at 8.7 percent, analysts said.

“That means China’s economy is not slowing down as quickly as expected. That gave an overall boost to market sentiment,” said Jackson Wong, vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

Other key benchmark stock indexes posted gains, buoyed by a strong sale of French bonds on Monday and taking a downgrade of the Europe’s emergency bailout fund in stride. Stocks in Singapore, Taiwan, India, Indonesia and New Zealand rose.

France easily sold about euro 8.6 billion ($10.9 billion) of debt with very short maturities, as well as 25-week and 51-week bonds.

On the secondary markets, where the issued bonds are later traded openly, the interest rate on France’s benchmark 10-year bond fell, indicating investors feel France remains a relatively good bet — and perhaps are paying less heed to ratings agencies.

Analysts at Credit Agricole CIB said in an email that “given extremely bearish market sentiment, the market appears to absorb good news more easily and any good news may boost risk appetite with short-covering rallies.”

Investor sentiment still faces multiple headwinds — the latest being Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the eurozone’s rescue fund by one notch to AA+. While that could hurt the fund’s ability to raise cheap bailout money to resolve the continent’s debt crisis, Credit Agricole said the development had largely been priced in to the market.

U.S. markets were closed Monday for a public holiday.

In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.2731 from $1.2670 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.70 yen from 76.96 yen.

Benchmark oil for February delivery jumped $1.28 to $99.98 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 40 cents to settle at $98.70 in New York on Friday.

BANGKOK – Asian stock markets faltered Thursday after a Federal Reserve report confirmed a slowdown in U.S. economic growth.

Oil prices jumped to above $101 per barrel after OPEC unexpectedly left its production levels unchanged. In currencies, the dollar strengthened against the yen but slipped against the euro.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.3 percent to 9,421.59. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.2 percent to 2,078.64 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.6 percent to 22,515.49.

Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the embattled Japanese utility known as TEPCO, plummeted 20 percent to an all-time low, a day after a government-appointed panel launched an investigation into a nuclear accident that took place at one of the company’s plants following a devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11.

TEPCO has been struggling to get control of the plant since the quake and critics say the company was woefully unprepared for such a disaster.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2 percent to 4,546.20, as banking and energy blue chips gained. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest miner, was 0.3 percent higher, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the country’s largest bank by market capitalization, added 0.4 percent.

Airline shares stalled as higher fuel costs threatened to cut into profits.

Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. fell 1.8 percent, and China’s three major state-owned airlines — China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Air China — tumbled more than 3 percent each in Hong Kong.

On Wall Street, more lackluster economic news sent stocks down Wednesday. A Federal Reserve report showed the economy slowed in several regions for the first time this year, largely due to the effect of higher oil prices.

The report added to concerns that have been building since mid-April that the American economy is stalling. High oil prices, bad weather and production disruptions following the tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan have combined to dampen many investors’ outlook for the rest of the year.

On Tuesday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged that the U.S. economic recovery was “uneven” and “frustratingly slow,” though he added that he expected growth to pick up in the second half of the year.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 lost 0.4 percent, its sixth straight loss. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.2 percent to 12,048.94. The Nasdaq composite slipped 1 percent to 2,675.38.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was up 69 cents to $101.43 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.65 to settle at $100.74 on Wednesday.

The dollar strengthened to 80.15 yen from 79.94 yen late Wednesday in New York. The euro was up to $1.4623 from $1.4581.

NEW YORK – After sailing through its best first quarter since 1998, the stock market is starting to lose some momentum. The Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index, a broad market benchmark, is up just 1 percent this quarter after jumping 5.4 percent in the first three months of the year, in large part because of conflicting data about the health of the economy.

One group — defensive stocks — is doing just fine. Utilities, health care and consumer staples are all considered a good defense against a slowdown because they tend to have stable profits no matter what happens in the broad economy. The items they sell aren’t ones people stop buying when their budgets are tight. And for the last six weeks, investors have been putting money into stocks of companies like Aetna or Kraft Foods that cater to everyday needs, like health insurance or coffee.

Each of the defensive industry groups has gained more than 5 percent this quarter. Health care — the best of the three — is now up 14.2 percent for the year, after lagging sectors like energy and industrials during the first quarter. What’s more, the number of shares exchanging hands in defensive industries is also increasing. Higher volume often signifies that a stock on the rise will continue to rise — or that a declining stock will keep falling — because it reflects increased investor interest in a stock. The daily trading volume of the SPDR Consumer Staples Select ETF, for example, is double the rate it was in January.

Meanwhile, industrials, a group that investors buy more when they expect an economic pickup to lead to new buildings or machines, are flat for the quarter. Energy companies are down 6.9 percent this quarter because several reports have indicated demand for oil is falling as gas nears $4 a gallon.

“People are becoming more conservative in their outlook and their spending as oil prices have risen,” said Quincy Krosby, the chief strategist at Prudential Financial. Investors have begun to worry that energy prices will sap consumer and business spending, she said.

There has been good news about the economy recently. More companies in the S&P 500 are beating analyst sales estimates this quarter than at any other time since the recession ended nearly two years ago. Companies are also adding jobs at the quickest pace in five years, with 700,000 jobs added in the last three months.

Even so, Andrew Goldberg, a market strategist for J.P. Morgan Funds, believes defensive stocks will continue to do well until it’s clear that oil prices will not be a drag on overall growth.

“If Americans are spending more money on gasoline, that means less money will be spent on flat-screen TVs and vacations,” said Goldberg. “You have to view this economic recovery as a patient in the I.C.U. We’re off the respirator and well on the way to a full recovery, but oil prices can cause a relapse.”

Investors who think that the growth rate of economy isn’t going to lead to higher corporate profits are attracted to defensive companies for two reasons. These companies — in the business of providing everyday needs like electricity, toilet paper, and telephone service — are in industries that deliver reliable earnings. Kraft, for example, saw its sales fall only 4 percent in 2009 even though consumers cut back elsewhere. Even with that drop, the company has increased sales by an average of 7.6 percent annually over the past five years.

That allows defensive stock companies to pay higher dividends than, say, a technology company that may be expanding its business rapidly. AT&T Inc. pays a quarterly dividend of 43 cents per share, giving it a 5.5 dividend yield. That’s far higher than the 3.18 percent yield on a 10-year Treasury note and vastly more than an investor would get from, say, consumer favorite Apple Inc., which doesn’t pay a dividend.

Defensive stocks are also a cheap way to get dividend returns compared with the S&P 500 index, which currently costs 15 times earnings and yields 2 percent. AT&T costs just 9 times earnings, despite gaining 2.8 percent this quarter.

Coca-Cola Co., another defensive stock, costs 13 times earnings after gaining 2.8 percent this quarter and comes with a 2.8 percent yield. Google, by comparison, costs 23 times earnings and doesn’t pay a dividend. It’s fallen nearly 10 percent over the quarter. Higher yields mean that investors will still benefit even if stock prices stall, Goldberg said.

Of course, some investors are buying defensive stocks simply because many underperformed over the past two years.

Dimitre Genov, the portfolio manager at the $58 million Artio Global Equity Fund, bought Dean Foods last year when its 52 percent drop landed it among the five worst-performing stocks among the 500 companies that make up the S&P index. The Dallas-based company, the country’s largest dairy, is up 34 percent this quarter, thanks in large part to quarterly results that topped Wall Street’s expectations after the company cut costs and raised its forecast for full-year earnings because grocers are raising costs for store-brand milk, the company’s chief competitor.

“The laggards of last year are the winners now,” he said.

NEW YORK – After two weeks of strong earnings pumped up the markets, weak results from Pfizer and others deflated a broad earnings rally, at least for a day.

The world’s largest drug maker posted lower-than-expected quarterly results Tuesday, slowing a parade of positive corporate reports. Clorox, Molson Coors Brewing Co., and Beazer Homes also slipped after announcing weaker earnings.

That sent broad indexes such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 lower. The Russell 2000, an index of small companies, lost 1.3 percent.

The S&P 500 fell 4.60 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,356.62. The Nasdaq composite fell 22.46, or 0.8 percent, at 2,841.62. The Dow Jones industrial average inched out a gain of 0.15 percent to close at 12,807.51.

Randy Bateman, chief investment officer and president of Huntington Asset Advisors, said some kind of weakness was natural following a mostly positive earnings season. About 65 percent of companies in the S&P 500 have reported their results, and earnings are up about 21 percent from the same period last year, according to FactSet.

“We’ve had such a strong, hard run for the entirety of the year in the face of an awful lot of adversity,” Bateman said. “Investors are going to sit back a little bit and say, `How much more good news is out there?’”

Pfizer Inc. fared worst in the Dow Jones industrial average Tuesday, losing nearly 3 percent after the company reduced its revenue forecast for 2011.

Clorox Co. fell 3.6 percent and Molson Coors Brewing Co. fell nearly 6 percent after each reported lower net income compared to the same period last year. The consumer goods maker and beverage company both blamed higher costs for raw materials for the decline.

Beazer Homes USA Inc. slipped 5 percent. The homebuilder reported a larger-than-expected loss because orders for new homes fell, reflecting continued weakness in the housing industry.

The losses came after a string of stronger than expected earnings reports pushed the broad stock market up 2 percent this quarter. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.4 percent last week alone.

“You get a nice move like that and you’re bound to have a pullback,” said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management. Investors sold stocks based on their perceived riskiness, he said, with the stable companies in the Dow losing the least and smaller, riskier companies in the Russell 2000 declining the most.

Not every company had poor results. MetroPCS Communications Inc. rose 10 percent, the most of any company in the S&P 500, after it added a record number of subscribers in the first quarter. The company sells low-cost phone service, primarily in cities.

General Motors rose 2.5 percent after its U.S. car and truck sales jumped 26 percent in April. Higher gas prices motivated consumers to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Bond prices rose slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 3.26 from 3.28 percent from late Monday.

Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 4.5 billion shares.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks rose on Tuesday, tracking U.S. shares which gained on optimistic remarks from influential investor Warren Buffett, while Chinese manufacturing growth slowed to a six-month low.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei average (.N225) climbed 1 percent and the broader Topix index (.TOPX) rose 1.2 percent, while Australian shares (.AXJ0) also gained.

Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), told shareholders in his widely read annual letter that he saw the need for “major acquisitions,” a sign stocks may be cheap.

In many parts of Asia, inflation and measures to combat it continue to dominate policymaking. Inflation is seen as one of greatest risks to the economic growth that has encouraged investment in Asian emerging markets, as much of Europe and other developed economies stagnate.

Chinese manufacturing growth slowed in February, according to an official survey, as the government’s sustained campaign to tame inflation weighed on industrial activity.

High global commodity prices complicated the task of monetary tightening, pushing a gauge of industrial input prices to a three-month high in China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI).

The overall PMI, which is designed to provide a snapshot of conditions in the manufacturing sector, fell to 52.2 in February from 52.9 in January, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said.

“Inflation pressures are rising but economic activity is slowing. Slower economic growth is good for cooling inflation,” said Wang Hu, economist at Guotai Junan Securities in Shanghai.

China’s battle with inflation is a key market factor, and some foreign investors may favor Japanese stocks, analysts said.

“U.S. and European investors have been the main players in the Japanese market. But Asian investors have joined in as Japan is one of the few countries with a low risk of rate hikes,” said Shun Maruyama, chief strategist at Credit Suisse.

“They are buying Japanese stocks on a process of elimination as Japan has more tolerance for higher oil prices than other Asian countries.”

Australia’s central bank kept interest rates steady on Tuesday for a fourth month, and said inflation looked set to remain within its preferred range all year, indicating it would not rush to raise them again.

In Indonesia, annual inflation slowed in February but at 6.84 percent stayed above the central bank’s target range of 4-6 percent.

Crude oil traded close to $120 per barrel last week, its highest in more than two years, largely on fears that political upheaval in Libya would spread across oil-producing nations in the Middle East, but Saudi Arabia calmed the market with extra supply.

Brent crude was steady around $112 per barrel, while U.S. crude for delivery in April rose 45 cents to $97.41 per barrel. Gold, which in February recorded its biggest monthly gain since August as worried investors sought safety, was up around $3 to $1,413.60 per ounce.

The dollar index (.DXY), which tracks its performance against a basket of major currencies, was steady at 76.951, not far from a 3- month low of 76.756.

The British pound hit its highest in four months versus the dollar, on expectations the Bank of England would raise rates, and that high oil prices would retard U.S. economic growth.

Investors are awaiting some key U.S. economic events. This week will see Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony at the Senate Banking Committee at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday and U.S. jobs data on Friday.

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

BANGKOK – Asian stock markets fell Wednesday as slowing South Korean growth underscored weakness in overseas demand and investors fretted the U.S. Federal Reserve’s expected stimulus measures may not be enough to boost the economy.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index trimmed gains to be up just 6.68 points, or 0.1 percent, at 9,384.06. Exporters got a modest lift as the yen reversed some of its recent strength against the U.S. dollar.

Investors were reluctant to trade heavily ahead of the release of corporate results from major Japanese companies including Sony Corp. and Honda Motor Co. later this week.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.6 percent at 1,908.84 after government figures showed the country’s economic growth slowed sharply in the third quarter on weaker exports and manufacturing. Asia’s fourth-largest economy expanded 0.7 percent in the July-September period after 1.4 percent growth in the previous quarter.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.6 percent to 23,224.15 and mainland China’s benchmark dropped 0.5 percent to 3,027.34. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.9 percent to 4,648.10.

Benchmarks in India, Singapore and Taiwan also fell.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 5.41 points, or 0.1 percent, at 11,169.46. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.02 to 1,185.64 while the technology-focused Nasdaq composite index rose 6.44, or 0.3 percent, to 2,497.29.

Investors have bet that the U.S central bank will enact a bond-buying program in early November in a bid to support the world’s biggest economy. Buying bonds would drive interest rates and yields even lower, which makes stocks a more attractive investment.

Traders have speculated the size of the Fed’s bond purchase will be around $500 billion. But investors were worrying it may be smaller than previously expected following a speech Monday by William Dudley, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Dudley said further Fed action was “likely to be warranted” unless the economic outlook improved. Still, he added that the Fed “cannot wave a magic wand and make the problems remaining from the preceding period of excess vanish immediately.”

In currencies, the dollar rose to 81.75 yen from 81.41 yen late Tuesday in New York. The euro fell to $1.3808 from $1.3856.

Benchmark crude for November delivery was down 40 cents to $82.15 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 3 cents to settle at $82.55 on Tuesday.

BANGKOK – Asian stocks were mixed Thursday as China reported slower growth, suggesting a waning contribution by the world’s No. 2 economy to the global recovery.

Oil prices fell to near $82 a barrel as a stronger U.S. currency weighed on crude by making dollar-based commodities more expensive for investors with other currencies.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index couldn’t hold onto its morning gains, slipping 0.2 percent, or 18.76 points, to 9,362.84.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.1 percent to 23,539.79 and the Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.9 percent to 2,977.07. Markets in Singapore and Malaysia were lower as well.

Among gainers, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.1 percent to 1,873.09 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.1 percent to 4,629.50. Markets in India, Taiwan and Indonesia also posted gains.

Tey Tze Ming, a trader with Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore, said markets were likely to be volatile in the medium term amid doubts about the outlook for economic growth.

“The rally of the last five or six months was kind of a nice, straight line. But now, given there is so much uncertainty, we can expect more swings to come — like in the last few days,” Ming said.

China said Thursday its rapid economic expansion slowed in the July-September quarter as Beijing cooled a credit boom and tried to steer growth to a more sustainable level.

The world’s second-largest economy grew 9.6 percent over a year earlier. That was down from the previous quarter’s 10.3 percent but by far the highest of any major economy.

Still, Ming said he thought a 9 percent growth figure was “too low for China” because growth at that rate could lead to higher unemployment — and greater social unrest.

China’s slowdown was driven in part by a government clampdown on bank lending aimed at cooling surging housing costs and stock speculation. Before a surprise interest rate hike earlier this week, regulators already had tightened controls on mortgage lending and other credit.

Japan’s Nikkei initially went up after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying major currencies were in alignment, suggesting the dollar shouldn’t weaken further against the yen. The comments pushed the dollar as high as 81.84 yen in Tokyo from 81.13 yen in New York late Wednesday.

In New York Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average rallied 129.35 points, or 1.2 percent, to 11,107.97, lifted by a batch of strong earnings results from companies like Delta Air Lines Inc. and Boeing Co.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3908 from $1.3951 in New York late Wednesday. The dollar gave up some of its gains versus the yen to trade at 81.18 yen.

Benchmark oil for December delivery was down 60 cents to $81.94 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.38 to settle at $82.54 on Wednesday.

NEW YORK – Stock futures fell after Japan became the latest country to report slowing growth, adding to concerns about the pace of a global economic recovery.

Japan reported its economy grew just 0.1 percent in the second quarter, well below the 1.2 percent growth in the first quarter and short of expectations. The report follows signs last week that both the U.S. and Chinese economies are not growing as quickly as earlier in the year.

There are a few economic reports due out this week that should provide more direction on the pace of recovery. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is expected to say Monday that the manufacturing activity in the state rebounded this month after the pace of growth slowed sharply in July.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predict the Empire State Manufacturing index rose to 8 from 5.08 in July. Stocks were hurt last month after a sharp drop in the index.

Investors will also get reports on housing starts, inflation at the consumer level, industrial production and weekly claims for unemployment benefits later this week. A big jump in unemployment claims last week added to stock losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 400 points over the past four trading days after the Federal Reserve took a more cautious tone about the pace of recovery and said it would start buying Treasury bonds to try and stimulate growth. Major retailers like J.C. Penney Co. also warned that profits the rest of the year would not be as big as previously estimated because shoppers are cutting back on spending.

Home-improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. said Monday its quarterly profit and revenue rose, though both measures fell short of forecasts.

Investors continued to snap up Treasurys Monday, driving interest rates lower. The drop came because of continued concerns that the global economy will slow and mostly strong corporate earnings reported in the second quarter will not be able to hold up.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 41, or 0.4 percent, to 10,225. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 4.80, or 0.5 percent, to 1,071.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 3.25, or 0.2 percent, to 1,812.00.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.61 percent from 2.68 percent late Monday. Its yield is often used to help set interest rates on mortgages and consumer loans.

The yield on the 10-year note is near the level last hit in March 2009 when stocks fell to a 12-year low.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.6 percent. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.4, Germany’s DAX index dropped 0.4 percent, and France’s CAC-40 fell 1 percent.

BANGKOK – Asian stocks markets were mixed Monday as a sharp slowdown in Japan’s growth added to evidence the global economy is losing momentum.

Recent figures on the U.S. and Chinese economies have also suggested global growth is facing headwinds as the initial burst of expansion in the wake of the global recession cools.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average was down 78.64 points, or 0.9 percent, at 9,174.82 amid strength in the yen and after government figures showed the economy grew an annualized 0.4 percent in the second quarter after a 5 percent expansion in the first three months of the year.

Consumer spending, which accounts for about 60 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product, was flat from the previous quarter. Analysts said the outlook for the third quarter is uncertain as a cooling global economy is dampening production and exports — a mainstay of the Japanese economy.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was off less than 0.1 percent at 21,066.40 and South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.9 percent to 1,730.90. Markets in Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and Thailand also fell.

Among the gainers was China’s Shanghai Composite Index, up 1.3 percent at 2,640.84, and India’s Sensex, which added 0.1 percent to 18,183.70. Markets in Taiwan, Malaysia and the Philippines gained as well.

U.S. stocks extended their losing streak to four days Friday after a mixed batch of readings on consumers further muddled investors’ sense of the economy.

One of the biggest obstacles to a strong recovery in the world’s biggest economy is weak consumer spending. Friday’s reports about consumers’ attitudes and spending didn’t point to a shopping rebound anytime soon.

The Dow fell 16.80, or 0.2 percent, to 10,303.15. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4.36, or 0.4 percent, to 1,079.25. The Nasdaq composite index fell 16.79, or 0.8 percent, to 2,173.48.

In currencies, the dollar fell to 85.81 yen from 86.18 yen. The euro rose to $1.2791 from $1.2755.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was up 30 cents at $75.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 35 cents on Friday to settle at $75.39 a barrel, its lowest level in a month.