Dow drops over 1.5 percent by midday

Wall Street was down substantially in midday trade Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.56 percent lower to 13,155.25, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1.86 percent to 2,565.73 and the S&P 500 was down 1.45 percent to 1,457.08.

European markets were significantly lower on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 2.29 percent to 1,492.66. The IBEX dropped 2.29 percent to 13,873.4 in Madrid, while in Frankfurt the Dax was down 2.43 percent to 7,436.63 and the CAC-40 was 2.63 percent lower in Paris. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 1.93 percent to 6,191.2, while the FTSE 250 fell 1.97 percent to 11,107.7.

Asia-Pacific equities markets were mixed again on Friday. In Taiwan the Taiex was up a bare 0.01 percent, or 1 point, to 9,018.08, while the Straits Times index closed at 3,488.97. The S&P/ASX200 gained 0.44 percent to 6,278.4 in Australia, while the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.5 percent to 6,296.5.

Decliners included India’s Sensex, which dropped 0.17 percent to 15,590.42. The Kospi fell 0.21 percent to 1,884.9 in South Korea, while the Hang Seng was 0.28 percent lower to 23,982.61 in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite was down 2.16 percent to 5,277.18. Tokyo’s markets dropped again. The Nikkei 225 was 0.83 percent lower to 16,122.16, while the Topix index dropped 0.73 percent to 1,557.02 and the Mothers market was down 0.93 percent to 704.82.

Crude oil prices were mixed, while precious metals prices were higher in New York but the price of copper was down. Wheat prices were up as high prices didn’t seem to deter demand.

The US dollar was down in early afternoon trade in London after US jobs declined for the first time in four years.

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