European markets in significant declines

European markets were lower on Friday, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 2.86 percent to 1,482.14. The Dax dropped 1.48 percent to 7,343.26 in Frankfurt, while the Paris CAC-40 fell 3.13 percent to 5,448.63 and had no gainers on the day. In Madrid the IBEX was 2.59 percent lower to 14,453.9. The London markets were also lower as the FTSE 100 fell 3.71 percent to 6,038.3 and the FTSE 250 was down 2.88 percent to 10,889.5.

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were much lower on Friday as well, as worries over the subprime sector in the US went global. South Korea’s Kospi index, which dropped 4.2 percent to 1,828.49, its sharpest decline in three years. The Shanghai Composite, which only fell 0.1 percent, to 4,749.37 in China. Elsewhere, the Sensex was 1.54 percent lower to 14,868.25, while Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 2.74 percent to 8,931.31. The Hang Seng index was 2.88 percent lower to 21,792.71 in Hong Kong, while Singapore’s Straits Times index was down 3.05 percent to 3,308.99.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 3.6 percent to 5,965.2 and the S&P/ASX200 was 3.72 percent lower to 5,936. Tokyo’s markets were also down substantially as the Nikkei 225 dropped 2.37 percent to 16,764.09, an five-month low, and the Topix index was 2.96 percent lower to an eight-month low of 1,633.93. The Mothers market of small and mid-caps was down 1.84 percent to 762.53.

Wall Street was lower in afternoon trade after the US Federal Reserve made two injections of cash into the market during the day, one of $19 billion, followed by $16 billion more. These came on the heels of two separate cash additions into the market on Thursday, totaling $24 billion. In early afternoon trade in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.04 percent to 13,132.4, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1 percent to 2,530.95 and the S&P 500 was 0.81 percent lower to 1,441.28.

Precious metals prices were higher on the session, while crude oil settled lower for the day and week. Wheat and sugar futures were lower, as were prices on hog futures. Cattle futures held fairly steady.

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