IBEX falls 1.29 percent as Europe equities remain mixed

Europe’s equities markets were mixed on Monday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.4 percent to 1,260.39. The Dax was down 0.38 percent to 6,534.97 while the IBEX fell 1.29 percent to 13,269. The exception was the Paris CAC-40, which added 0.24 percent to 4,707.07 on the session. London‘s markets saw gains on the session. The FTSE 100 was up 0.16 percent to 5,702.1 while the FTSE 250 gained 0.52 percent to 10,013.2.

Markets in the Asia Pacific region were mixed, with more seeing declines than advances. Australia’s markets saw their largest quarterly decline since 1987 despite slight gains on the day, with the S&P/ASX200 adding 0.09 percent to 5,355.7 while the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.16 percent to 5,409.7. The Kospi index was also higher, climbing 0.13 percent to 1,703.99 in South Korea.

Decliners included Taiwan’s Taiex, which was down 0.59 percent to 8,572.59. The Straits Times Index was 0.81 percent lower to 3,007.36 while the Hang Seng fell 1.88 percent to 22,849.2. The Shanghai Composite was down 3 percent to 3,472.71 and the Sensex dropped 4.44 percent to 15,644.44. In Tokyo, the Nikkei was down 2.3 percent on the session to 12,525.54 while the Topix index was 2.48 percent lower to 1,212.96 and the Mothers market dropped 1.5 percent to 620.9.

Wall Street ended the session higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.38 percent to 12,262.89 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.79 percent to 2,279.1 and the S&P 500 was 0.57 percent higher to 1,322.7. Despite the day’s gains, the Dow ended the first quarter down by 7.55 percent while the Nasdaq dropped 14.07 percent in the quarter and the S&P ended the quarter 9.92 percent lower.

Crude oil prices were down substantially in both New York and London. Metals prices were also lower and most grains prices fell but corn was higher in Chicago.

The US dollar and the pound were lower versus the euro, with the pound touching a new record low during the session. The rand was higher versus the greenback on the session on a falling trade deficit in South Africa.

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