Wolseley leads building materials groups lower

European equities markets were lower again Tuesday .

In London, the FTSE 100 was down 2.38 percent to 5,320.4 while the FTSE 250 dropped 2.81 percent to 8,867.6.

House builders, the related buildings materials sector and the real estate sector were all lower as Wolseley (LSE: WOS) led decliners on the 100 with a drop of 8.62 percent and house builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) had the biggest loss on the 250 as it fell 9.63 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 2.5 percent to 1,159.39 while the Dax was 2.34 percent lower to 6,282.43, the CAC-40 fell 2.61 percent to 4,332.79 and the IBEX dropped 2.93 percent to 11,335.3.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were also lower Tuesday.

In Tokyo, the Topix index fell to a four-month low as it dropped 2.23 percent to 1,235.54 while the Nikkei 225 was down 2.28 percent to 12,865.05 but the Mothers market of small and mid-caps added 0.38 percent to 444.24.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries fell 2.24 percent to 4,930.4 while the S&P/ASX200 dropped 2.38 percent to 4,866.4.

Elsewhere in the region, the Taiex was down 0.32 percent to 6,978.6 while the Sensex fell 0.7 percent to 14,543.73, the Kospi was 1.68 percent lower to 1,541.41, the Straits Times Index was down 1.75 percent to 2,728.39 and the Hang Seng dropped 2.13 percent to 20,484.37.

The Shanghai Composite bucked the trend, adding 1.06 percent on the session to 2,344.47.

In early afternoon trade in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.9 percent lower to 11,376.07 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.01 percent to 2,392.63 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.76 percent to 1,268.93.

Oil and metals prices saw gains on the session, while grains prices were mixed.

The yen saw gains against most currencies as investors backed away from risk, while the South African rand declined on the session.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Wolseley leads building materials groups lower