Stock markets headed lower Wednesday as China tightened monetary policy and debt worries in Europe weighed on the euro. The People's Bank of China raised the ratio on reserves Chinese banks must hold by a half a percentage point, CNN reported. The change, which takes effect Nov. 15, was meant to counter the U.S. Federal Reserve's $600 billion Treasury bond purchasing program announced a week ago.
In Europe, concern over Ireland's debt continued to put pressure on the euro as the Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 0.41 percent, losing 1.12 points to 272.34 with markets still open.
In midmorning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 62.21 points, 0.55 percent, to 11,284.54. The Standard & Poor's 500 lost 0.52 percent, 6.31 points, to 1,207.09. The Nasdaq composite index shed 0.44 percent, 11.28, to 2,551.70.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 4/32 to yield 2.677 percent. The euro fell to $1.3696 from Tuesday's $1.3778. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 82.25 yen from Tuesday's 81.83 yen. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gained 1.4 percent, 136.03 points, to 9,830.52.
