Equities, commodities, bonds all mixed on session

Global equities markets were mixed on Thursday. Most equities markets in Asia were lower, while in the Pacific region the Sydney Ordinaries were up just slightly, adding 0.11 percent to 6,142.8. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 0.34 percent to 20,380.21, while the Sensex was 0.53 percent lower to 13,113.81 in India. The Straits Times index in Singapore fell 0.91 percent to 3,372.69. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.73 percent to 17,540.42, while the Topix index was 1.1 percent lower to 1,719.52.

European markets were lower on the session, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 falling 0.31 percent to 1,542.39. In Paris, the CAC-40 dropped 0.05 percent to 5,748.97, while the Xetra Dax was 0.14 percent lower to 7,142.95 in Frankfurt. The London markets were mixed, meanwhile, with the FTSE 100 0.05 percent higher to 6,416.4 but the FTSE 250 lower by 0.51 percent to 11,894.70.

On Wall Street, the markets were higher in early afternoon trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.26 percent to 12,517.7, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.58 percent to 2,473.65 and the S&P 500 was 0.3 percent higher to 1,443.17. The Russell 2000 index of small and mid-caps also gained 0.3 percent, to 810.64.

Crude oil prices rose after yet another refinery shutdown in the Unites States, and after the International Energy Agency said that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has tightened oil supplies too much. Metals prices were mixed on the session, with gold, silver and platinum lower, but palladium higher on the day.

The euro gained ground on the dollar after the European Central Bank decided to leave interest rates at their current level of 3.75 percent for another month, but comments by the ECB’s president left little doubt that another rate hike will come by June. The decision sent yields on Eurozone government bonds higher. Yields in the UK and Japan were higher as well, but US Treasury bond yields were lower amid reports of higher jobless claims in the week ending April 7.

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