Europe, Asia fall on session

Equities markets in Asia and the Pacific region were lower on Wednesday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries were 0.54 percent lower to 6,363.2, while the Indian Sensex fell 0.66 percent to 14,910.62. The Straits Times index in Singapore dropped 1.11 percent to 3,600.75 and the Hang Seng was down 1.22 percent to 22,607.02. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.1 percent to 18,049.51 and the Topix index declined 1.2 percent to 1,767.72.

In Europe equities declined for a second straight day. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.28 percent lower to 1,602.41. In Paris the CAC-40 fell 0.3 percent to 6,001.09, while the IBEX was down 0.39 percent to 14,766.2 in Madrid. Meanwhile, the Dax was 0.83 percent lower to 7,898.54 in Frankfurt. In London, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.24 percent to 6,615.1, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.56 percent to 11,666.8.

Wall Street was higher at mid-day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.46 percent to 13,564.21, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.38 percent to 2,649.17 and the S&P 500 gained 0.47 percent to 1,517.15.

Crude oil prices were volatile, with Brent crude ultimately lower in London and West Texas Intermediate crude down before the weekly US inventories report, up right after the report, but slightly lower by early afternoon trade in New York. Metals prices were mixed on the session.

In currencies markets, the yen weakened after a roller-coaster session, while the US dollar was lower against other major currencies.

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