Asia-Pacific markets mixed; Europe, US decline

Asia-Pacific equities markets were mixed again on Wednesday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed above the 24,000 level for the first time, ending the session 0.77 percent higher to 24,069.17. Other gainers on the day included the Shanghai Composite, which added 0.31 percent to 5,310.72 and the Straits Times index in Singapore, which ended the session higher at 3,445.08.

Among decliners, Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 0.1 percent to 8,913.85, while in India the Sensex were down 0.12 percent to 15,446.15. In Australia the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.36 percent lower to 6,274.3 and the S&P/ASX200 was 0.49 percent lower to 6,262.7. South Korea’s Kospi index also dropped 0.49 percent, to 1,865.59. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.6 percent to 16,158.45, while the Topix index dropped 1.71 percent to 1,569.47. The Mothers market fell 2.23 percent to 717.07.

European markets were lower on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 1.69 percent lower to 1,523.24. In Frankfurt, the Dax dropped 1.73 percent to 7,588.03, while the Paris CAC-40 fell 2.14 percent to 5,551.55 and the IBEX was down 2.31 percent to 14,252.5 in Madrid.

London’s markets saw declines as well. The FTSE 100 dropped 1.66 percent to 6,270.7 and the FTSE 250 was down 1.83 percent to 11,300.7.

At midday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.17 percent lower to 13,291.89. The Nasdaq Composite had fallen 0.69 percent to 2,612.19, while the S&P 500 was down 1.14 percent to 1,472.48.

Crude oil prices rose slightly ahead of US inventories reports, due Thursday to the Monday holiday in the US, while precious metals and most base metals saw declines. Wheat was higher again in morning trade, but other agricultural commodities saw declines.

In midday currency trade in London, the yen saw gains as investors again rejected risk when equities markets declined.

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