Asian markets gain; most European markets decline

Equities markets in the Asia Pacific region were higher on Monday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.11 percent to 20,927.75, while in Singapore the Straits Times index was 0.2 percent higher to 3,514.49. In India, the Sensex gained 0.81 to 14,418.6. The Sydney Ordinaries added 0.84 percent to 6,372.5 in Australia. Weakness in the yen sent Tokyo’s markets higher. The Nikkei 225 gained 0.9 percent to 17,556.87, while the Topix index closed at 1,710.67, a gain of 0.9 percent as well.

Almost all European markets were lower on the session, with the Dax in Frankfurt a notable exception with a gain of 0.15 percent to 7,619.31. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.13 percent to 1,598.13, while the Paris CAC-40 fell 0.18 percent to 6,089.91. The London markets were lower as well. The FTSE 100 dropped 0.06 percent to 6,636.8, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.01 percent to 12,201.5

Wall Street was higher at midday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was fractionally higher to 13,559.86, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.45 percent to 2,569.99 and the S&P 500 was at 1,529.25, above its highest close ever.

Crude oil prices were higher at early afternoon in New York, with gasoline trading even, heating oil up slightly and natural gas lower. Metals prices were mostly higher. The exception was platinum, which dropped $6.50 per troy ounce on the sector.

The yen was at record lows versus the euro before recovering slightly, but it still remained down on the session so far at midday in London.

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