Asia-Pacific equities markets in mixed day

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly higher on Tuesday. The FTSE Straits Times Index added 0.29 percent to 3,049.9. The Kospi index was up 0.66 percent to 1,637.91 in South Korea while the Shanghai Composite was 0.87 percent higher to 4,457.94. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.99 percent to 24,291.8 while the Taiex added 1.21 percent to 7,576.42. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 2.99 percent to 13,478.86 while the Topix index was up 2.76 percent to 1,328.73 and the Mothers market gained 1.07 percent to 656.49. Among the losers, India’s Sensex was 0.34 percent lower to 18,091.94. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries fell 2.24 percent to 5,754.5 and the S&P/ASX200 dropped 2.45 percent to 5,716.5.

European markets saw gains as well. The FTSE Eurofirst added 1.47 percent to 1,336.52. The Dax was up 1.09 percent to 6,892.96 while the IBEX was 1.45 percent higher to 13,215.1 and the CAC-40 gained 1.92 percent to 4,941.45. Markets were also higher in London, where the FTSE 100 added 1.66 percent to 5,885.2 and the FTSE 250 gained 2.75 percent to 9,905.4.

Wall Street was mixed in early afternoon trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3 percent to 12,421.53 and the S&P 500 was up 0.16 percent to 1,356.16 but the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.21 percent to 2,345.09.

Crude oil prices were higher on the session while metals and grains prices remained mixed on news affecting them.

The US dollar was higher in relation to the euro, while both the yen and the Swiss franc saw declines as investors looked for more risky investments.

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