IBEX drops over 250 points on session

European equities markets saw declines Monday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.52 percent to 1,493.32. The Paris CAC-40 was 1.61 percent lower to 5,514.88 while the Dax lost over 120 points, or 1.55 percent, to 7,825.44 and Madrid’s IBEX fell over 1.65 percent, more than 250 points, to 15,318.5. London’s markets saw declines as the FTSE 100 fell 1.86 percent to 6,277.8 and the FTSE 250 dropped 2.62 percent, almost 275 points) to 10,140.4.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were also lower Monday. The Shanghai Composite was down 2.62 percent to 4,876.76 while South Korea’s Kospi index fell 2.91 percent to 1,839.82. The Straits Times index was 3.25 percent lower to 3,353.56 in Singapore. Indices in Australia lost over 200 points each, with the Sydney Ordinaries dropping 3.42 percent to 6,331.8 and the S&P/ASX200 down 3.52 percent to 6,263.5.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped nearly 1,000 points for a 3.51 percent decline to 26,596.58. In Taiwan, the Taiex was 3.54 percent lower to 7,830.85, a loss of almost 300 points while India’s Sensex fell nearly 800 points, or 3.84 percent, to 19,261.35. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.71 percent to 15,249.79 and the Topix index dropped 1.9 percent to 1,472.7 while the Mothers market plummeted 6 percent to 784.12.

Wall Street was lower in mid-afternoon trade on continued skepticism over the Federal Reserve’s plan to rescue the credit markets. In afternoon trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.02 percent to 13,203.61 while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.72 percent lower to 2,590.47 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.09 percent to 1,451.93.

Crude oil prices and prices for base metals were lower, while precious metals prices were higher or held steady and grains prices were mixed.

The US dollar gained on the euro while the yen and Swiss franc benefited from investors’ reluctance to engage in risky carry trades.

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