BSkyB, Thomson Reuters downgrades hurt media in London

London’s equities markets saw substantial declines Thursday, led by the media sector and banks, with the FTSE 100 down 2.61 percent to 5,518.2 as the FTSE 250 dropped 2.29 percent to 9,107.3.

BSkyB (LSE: BSY) and Thomson Reuters (LSE: TRIL; NYSE: TRI; NAS: TRIN; TSX: TRI) pulled the media sector lower after broker downgrades, while banks declined after a downgrade of Citigroup (NYSE: C; TYO: 8710) on an expectation of more writedowns in the second quarter, while miners and the oil sector were both higher on the session.

European equities were also down significantly on fears of more credit-crisis losses by banks and as French consumer confidence and Italian business confidence were both reported down.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 2.5 percent to 1,197.02 as the Dax fell 2.39 percent to 6,459.6, the CAC-40 was 2.43 percent lower to 4,426.19 and the IBEX dropped 2.96 percent to 12,077.7.

Most Asia-Pacific equities markets also saw declines, although the were much smaller than those in Europe.

Tokyo’s markets were lower after traders and miners saw declines on dropping commodities prices, with the Nikkei 225 dropping 0.5 percent to 13,822.32 while the Topix index was down 0.1 percent to 1,344.79 and the Mothers market fell 0.29 percent to 567.08.

Other decliners in the region included the Kospi index, which was down just 0.01 percent to 1,717.66 while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.11 percent to 2,901.85, the Straits Times Index was 0.19 percent to 2,980.95, the Taiex was down 0.55 percent to 7,811.8 and the Hang Seng dropped 0.79 percent to 22,455.67.

Australian markets saw gains as the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.09 percent to 5,421.5 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 1.32 percent to 5,307.

In afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 2.61 percent to 11,503.57 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 3 percent to 2,287.77 and the S&P 500 was 2.59 percent lower to 1,287.77.

Commodities prices were higher across the board.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil hitting a new high before falling back but still closing more than $5 over Wednesday’s close, while New York gold had its biggest one-day percentage gain in 16 months and December corn hit a new record in early trade.

The US dollar was weaker while the pound and the Australian and New Zealand dollars all strengthened.

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