Equities markets mixed on Thursday

The Asia and Pacific region equities markets were mostly up on the session on Thursday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.51 percent to 5,943.4. The Straits Times index in Singapore gained 0.61 percent to 3,220.27, while in India the Sensex was 0.74 percent higher to 12,979.66. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 1.37 percent to 19,821.78. There was very little movement in the Tokyo markets as the Nikkei 225 added just 0.1 percent to 17,263.94 and the Topix index closed even at 1,701.68.

European equities markets saw gains as well. The Eurofirst 300 added 1.12 percent to 1,516.61. The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was 1.18 percent higher to 6,897.08, while in Paris the CAC-40 gained 1.42 percent to 5,631.53. London also saw gains, but not to as great an extent as did the markets on the continent. The FTSE 100 added 0.91 percent to 6,324.2, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.72 percent to 11,665.7.

Wall Street was mixed in midday trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2 percent higher to 12,327.11 and the S&P 500 had added 0.2 percent to 1,419.87, but the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3 percent to 2,409.47.

Oil prices were higher due to continuing political tensions in the Middle East and to demand that is growing at the same time that supply is declining.

In currencies markets, the yen weakened, as did the Swiss franc. The euro was stronger versus the US dollar and sterling, but the Polish zloty made gains in relation to the euro.

Global bonds markets saw yields rise almost everywhere, the exception being Japanese government bonds, where yields fell on the expectation that new data on core consumer prices, due out on Friday, will show that Japan has returned to deflation.

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