FROM MORRISON SECURITIES PTY LTD.:

U.S. EQUITIES, BOND MARKETS

Stocks fell as the S&P 500 notched its second-biggest decline of the year, joining a global stock selloff after a disappointing Spanish bond auction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined for a second-straight session Wednesday, sliding 124.80 points, or 1%, to 13074.75.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 14.42 points, or 1%, to 1398.96, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 45.48 points, or 1.46%, to 3068.09. For the technology-heavy Nasdaq, it was the year's steepest decline.

Financial stocks led the markets lower. Bank of America fell 3.1% to $9.20, the Dow's biggest decliner, while J.P. Morgan Chase fell 2.2% to 44.41. Technology stocks also were weak. Microsoft fell 2.3% to 31.21, and Cisco Systems declined 2.2% to 20.36.

The U.S. market selloff has come after the minutes of the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve rate-setting committee, released Tuesday, showed little evidence that the central bank was moving toward further easing.

In U.S. economic news, 209,000 new private-sector jobs were added in March, roughly in line with expectations for an increase of 200,000 jobs.

The private-sector jobs report is seen as a preview to the government employment report due Friday. This week, that report falls on Good Friday, a day when the stock market will be closed but bond markets will be open for a half day.

Separately, a reading on service sector activity in March came in a touch below expectations. In corporate news, SanDisk, down 11% at 44.51, was the worst-performing stock on the S&P 500 after the flash memory company indicated that fiscal first-quarter revenue outlook and total gross margin would fall short of projections because of weaker-than-expected pricing and demand.

Hovnanian Enterprises tumbled 8.5% to 2.15, after the home builder said it was selling 25 million shares of common stock to the public and plans to use some of the proceeds to pay down debt.

EUROPEAN STOCKS, BOND MARKETS

European stock markets slumped Wednesday as surging Spanish and Italian government yields renewed worries over the euro-zone debt crisis. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index slid 2.1% to 258.76, its lowest close in almost a month. The Spanish IBEX 35 index lost 2.1% to 7,660.70, while Italy's FTSE MIB index fell 2.4% and Portugal's PSI 20 declined 2.7%.

Among major benchmark indexes, London's FTSE 100 Index fell 2.3% to 5703.77, Frankfurt's DAX slid 2.8% to 6784.06 and Paris's CAC 40 Index dropped 2.7% to 3313.47.

Spain's borrowing costs rose on weak demand at the country's first debt auction since the government announced its budget last week.

The government sold a total of EUR2.589 billion of debt that matures in 2015, 2016 and 2020, near the bottom of its target of between EUR2.5 billion and EUR3.5 billion. That pushed up yields in the secondary market; Spain's 10-year bond yielded 5.68% late in the European day, up from 5.45% Tuesday, according to Tradeweb.

Spain sold just EUR2.589 billion of bonds, at the bottom of its planned range, and at yields that were well above previous auctions.

Following the auction, yields on 10-year Spanish government debt rose to 5.712%, from 5.445% Tuesday, the highest level since Jan. 9.

Stocks in Europe fell sharply. Also weighing on sentiment was a revised reading of euro-zone business activity in March, which confirmed contraction, as well as a decline in euro-zone retail sales in February.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank left its main interest rate unchanged for the fourth straight month, as expected. In a news conference after the decision, ECB President Mario Draghi warned that risks to growth remained and any discussion of how and when the ECB will unwind its unconventional measures to fight the crisis was premature.

Banking shares fell across Europe. In Madrid, Banco Santander declined 2.5%, while Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria fell 1.6%. Credit Agricole tumbled 5.2% and BNP Paribas sank 4.4%, both in Paris, while Deutsche Bank fell 3.5% in Frankfurt and UniCredit declined 3.0% in Milan.

Resource shares also tumbled, as commodity prices sank across the board. Fresnillo plunged 8.3% and Evraz dropped 6.8% while sector heavyweight Rio Tinto dropped 3.5%, all in London. Among energy companies, BG Group declined 4.9% and BP fell 2.6%, as oil futures fell to around their lowest levels since mid-February.

ASIA-PACIFIC EQUITIES, BOND MARKETS

Asian stock markets fell Wednesday as the latest U.S. Federal Open Market Committee minutes damped expectations for more growth-boosting measures from the Federal Reserve, while investors fretted about Australia's trade deficit and its implications for the wider region, including China.

Choppy trade for most Asian equities turned to solid losses after Australia said it ran a A$480 million trade gap in February, compared with expectations for a A$1.1 billion surplus in a Dow Jones Newswires survey.

After trading flat ahead of the data, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average tumbled to end 2.3% lower at 9,819.99, its biggest percentage drop since Nov. 1 and its first close below 10,000 since March 13.

South Korea's Kospi lost 1.5%. Hong Kong and Shanghai markets were closed for a holiday, leading to reportedly lighter-than-usual volumes across much of the region.

Japanese tech exporters were among the leading blue-chip decliners, with Sony down 2.9%, Toshiba Corp. down 3.3%, Sharp off 3.7%, and Panasonic 3.6% lower.

Resource-linked firms were mostly lower across the region. Sumitomo Metal Mining fell 2.8% and Pacific Metals lost 3.1% in Tokyo. In Seoul, steel maker Posco fell 1.5%. Japan's retail sector was also a force in the market's broader fall, with Fast Retailing Co. losing 5.7% to lead the decline after disappointing March domestic same-store sales results for its Uniqlo casual-clothing chain.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed sharply lower on the London Metal Exchange Wednesday, as the complex's early losses extended late in the session as euro zone concerns came back to bite and the dollar pushed higher.

At the close, LME three-month copper was 3.1% lower at $8,350 a metric ton. Lead recorded similar losses, closing 2.8% lower at $2.012/ton.

Crude futures tumbled Wednesday after government data showed U.S. oil stockpiles rose by 9 million barrels, the largest weekly increase in more than three years and above analysts' estimates for a 1.9-million-barrel increase.

The report comes amid a surge in U.S. production that is forcing traders to refocus on the supply picture after tensions with Iran drove market action for much of the year.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery settled $2.54, or 2.4%, lower at $101.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest since Feb. 14. Brent crude on the ICE Futures exchange traded $1.88 lower at $122.98 a barrel.

Precious metals tumbled, with gold ending at 12-week lows, as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve's reticence over further stimulus. The most actively traded gold contract, for June delivery, fell $57.90, or 3.5%, to settle at $1,614.10 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.