Wall Street lower at midday

At midday in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.26 percent lower to 13,639.08. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.84 percent to 2,751.43 while the S&P 500 was down 0.34 percent to 1,510.69.

Asia-Pacific equities markets were mixed on Thursday. Taiwan’s Taiex was 1.33 percent higher to 9,568.26 while in India the Sensex was up 1.39 percent to 18,770.89. In Singapore, the Straits Times index gained 1.59 percent to 3,707.14. The Hang Seng index added 1.78 percent to 29,854.49 in Hong Kong, while South Korea’s Kospi index jumped 2.24 percent to 1,976.75. Australia’s markets were lower again. The Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.11 percent to 6,644.8 and the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.15 percent to 6,624.3. The Shanghai Composite fell 4.8 percent to 5,562.39.

Tokyo’s markets were down as well. The Nikkei 225 was 0.45 percent lower to 16,284.17 and the Topix index was down 1.01 percent to 1,548.07, while the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 3.77 percent to 888.75.

Europe’s markets saw gains on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1 percent to 1,565.18. Madrid’s IBEX added 1.02 percent to 15,386, while the Dax gained 1.32 percent to 7,932.44 and the Paris CAC-40 jumped 1.51 percent to 5,760.3. There were gains in London as well. The FTSE 100 was up 1.45 percent to 6,576.3, while the FTSE 250 jumped 1.79 percent to 11,480.5.

Crude oil prices jumped more than $3 per barrel in both London and New York on drops in US inventories and on new sanctions announced by the United States against Iran. Metals prices were also higher, while agricultural commodities prices were mixed.

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