European, most Asian equities markets see gains

With the exception of Tokyo’s equities markets, Asian and Pacific markets were higher on Thursday. The Straits Times index in Singapore added 0.24 percent to 3,525.51, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index gained 0.27 percent to 20,994.61. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries closed at 6,370.1, a gain of 1.1 percent, while the Sensex was 1.22 percent higher to 14,299.71 in India.

Tokyo’s markets dropped slightly on the session after economic growth data was weaker than expected and the Bank of Japan declined to raise interest rates. The Nikkei 225 was 0.2 percent lower to 17,498.6, while the Topix index fell 0.3 percent to 1,707.27.

Equities were higher in Europe on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.2 percent to 1,584.66, while the CAC-40 gained 0.15 percent to 6,027 and the Xetra Dax was 0.24 percent higher to 7,499.5. In London the FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent to 6,579.3, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.34 percent to 12,143.6.

Wall Street was lower at midday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.15 percent to 13,467.7 after a short time at 13,500.37. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.22 percent to 2,541.87, while the S&P 500 fell 0.11 percent to 1,512.45.

Crude oil prices were up substantially, while most precious metals prices declined.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: European, most Asian equities markets see gains