Hang Seng falls 4.79 percent on session

Tokyo’s markets dropped Thursday. The Nikkei 225 was down 3.33 percent to 12,433.44 while the Topix index fell 3.13 percent to 1,215.87 and the Mothers market dropped 1.63 percent to 603.01. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region Australian indices were down, with the Sydney Ordinaries falling 2.22 percent to 5,215.7 and the S&P/ASX200 down 2.32 percent to 5,135.9. The Shanghai Composite was 2.43 percent lower to 3,971.26 while South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 2.6 percent to 1,6154.62. In Taiwan, the Taiex was down 2.66 percent to 8,210.99. The Straits Times Index was 3.85 percent lower to 2,805.55 while the Sensex fell 4.78 percent to 15,357.35. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 4.79 percent to 22,301.64.

Europe’s markets were also lower. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 1.27 percent lower to 1,268.46. The IBEX dropped 0.44 percent in Madrid to 13,073.2 while the CAC-40 was down 1.42 percent to 4,630.19 and the Dax fell 1.5 percent to 6,500.56 in Frankfurt. In London, the FTSE 100 was 1.45 percent lower to 5,692.4 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.88 percent to 9,801.5.

Wall Street saw gains in early afternoon trade after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 220 points in morning trade. The Dow was up 0.26 percent at early afternoon to 12,141.26 while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.73 percent higher to 2,260.32 and the S&P 500 gained 0.43 percent to 1,314.42.

Crude oil prices were higher, with New York prices peaking at $111 per barrel. Precious metals prices were also higher, while grains prices were mixed in Chicago.

The US dollar weakened further, falling to below ¥100 and setting another new low versus the euro.

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