Equities see declines in Europe

Equities markets declined in Europe on Friday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.54 percent lower to 1,264.68. The Dax was down 0.28 percent to 6,559.9 while the CAC-40 fell 4,695.92 and the IBEX dropped 0.71 percent to 13,442.4. London’s markets were also lower on the session. The FTSE 100 fell 0.43 percent to 5,692.9 while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.21 percent to 9,961.3.

Most Asia-Pacific region equities markets saw advances on the session. The main exception was Australia’s markets, which fell on declines among banks after one Australian bank hiked interest rates on its home loans. The Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.32 percent to 5,401.2 while the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.38 percent to 5,351.1. The Taiex was up 0.2 percent to 8,623.48 in Taiwan while Straits Times Index was 0.22 percent higher to 3,031.9 in Singapore. The Kospi index added 1.53 percent to 1,701.83. India’s Sensex gained 2.22 percent to 16,371.29. The Hang Seng was up 2.74 percent to 23,285.95 while the Shanghai Composite was 4.94 percent higher to 3,580.15.

Tokyo’s markets saw gains on the session. The Nikkei 225 was up 1.71 percent to 12,820.47 while the Topix index added 1.42 percent to 1,243.81 and the Mothers market gained 1.2 percent to 630.37.

Wall Street was mixed in mid-afternoon trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.17 percent to 12,281.37 and the S&P 500 fell 0.22 percent to 1,322.78 but the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.27 percent to 2,274.67.

Crude oil prices and prices for precious metals were lower on the session, while grains prices were mixed.

The pound weakened on bad economic news that included a decline in consumer sentiment and slow growth in home values, while the US dollar gained on the euro for the day but was still weaker versus the shared currency this week.

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