Dax, IBEX each drop 0.5 percent on session

European markets were lower Wednesday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.94 percent to 1,230.28. The Dax and the IBEX each dropped 0.5 percent to 6,361.22 and 12,964.7 respectively, while the CAC-40 fell 0.58 percent to 4,555.95 in Paris. London’s markets dropped as well, with the FTSE 100 down 1.07 percent to 5,545.6 and the FTSE 250 dropped 0.52 percent to 9,551.2.

Wall Street was lower in mid-afternoon trade in New York on profit-taking after Tuesday’s big gains, spurred by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.92 percent to 12,278.36 while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.88 percent lower to 2,248.4 and the S&P 500 fell 0.84 percent to 1,319.57.

Tokyo’s equities markets were up on the session. The Nikkei 225 was up 2.48 percent to 12,260.44 and the Topix index added 2.81 percent to 1,196.3 while the Mothers market gained 1.9 percent to 574.11. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, most markets saw gains. The exception was slight, with the Straits Times Index dropping 0.01 percent to 2,833.21. In India, the Sensex was up 1.09 percent to 14,994.83. The Taiex was 1.51 percent higher to 8,179.35 while South Korea’s Kospi index added 2.11 percent to 1,622.23. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 2.26 percent to 21,866.94. The Shanghai Composite was up 2.53 percent to 3,761.6. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 3.59 percent to 5,349.2 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 3.99 percent to 5,289.1.

Oil prices fell by more than $5 per barrel in afternoon trade in New York. Metals prices were lower as well, as were grains prices.

The US dollar and the pound were both weaker versus the euro, while the South African rand fell against all major currencies.

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