European equities join global declines

Equities markets were lower globally on Monday after the US Federal Reserve cut the discount rate for institutional borrowers by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent over the weekend and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM; TYO: 8634) bought Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) for just $2 per share.

Europe’s equities markets saw substantial declines on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 4.4 percent to 1,199.8. Madrid’s IBEX was down 2.81 percent to 12,656 while the CAC-40 was 3.51 percent lower in Paris and the Dax fell 4.18 percent to 6,182.3 in Frankfurt. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 3.86 percent to 5,414.4 and the FTSE 250 dropped 3.35 percent to 9,380.7.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 3.71 percent to 11,787.51 while the Topix dropped 3.65 percent to 1,149.65 and the Mothers market was down 1.81 percent to 571.21. The Nikkei was at its lowest in two and a half years. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, the Kospi index was down 1.61 percent to 1,574.44, the Straits Times Index was 1.63 percent lower to 2,792.75, and the Taiex fell 1.91 percent to 8,005.46. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 2.18 percent to 5,173.2 while the S&P/ASX200 was down 2.3 percent to 5,087. The Shanghai Composite was 3.6 percent lower to 3,820.05 while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng dropped 5.18 percent, or 1,152 points, to 21,084.61, its lowest in 7 months. In India, the Sensex fell 6.03 percent to 14,809.75.

In mid-afternoon trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.42 percent to 11,900.37 while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1.98 percent to 2,168.76 and the S&P 500 was 1.49 percent lower to 1,268.98.

Crude oil prices were down significantly after rising to a new record high overnight, while precious metals prices were mixed. Grains prices fell.

The US dollar and the pound were both lower on the session, with the US and UK currencies both hitting record lows versus the euro.

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