Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns lead leisure sector lower

European equities markets were lower Monday on higher oil prices that hurt the retail and travel and leisure sectors even as Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium all banned short-selling of shares in some companies, following the example of the US and the UK as well as some Asia-Pacific nations.

In London, the FTSE 100 was down 1.41 percent to 5,236.26 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.56 percent to 2,726.22.

Pubs operators Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) was 10.04 percent lower and Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) dropped 11.67 percent as travel and leisure shares were hurt by gains in oil prices, while retailers were also lower on the session.

The Eurofirst 300 was down 1.93 percent to 1,128.58 while the Dax fell 1.32 percent to 6,107.75, the IBEX was 1.98 percent lower to 11,328.5 and the CAC-40 dropped 2.34 percent to 4,223.51.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher after Australia and Taiwan joined the United States and the UK as well as several European nations in banning the short-selling of equities.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.42 percent to 12,090.59 while the Topix index gained 1.7 percent to 1,168.69 but the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 0.48 percent to 445.64.

Elsewhere in the region, the Kospi was up 0.31 percent to 1,460.34 while the Hang Seng added 1.58 percent to 19,632.2 and the Taiex gained 2.35 percent to 6,110.6.

In Australia, the government’s ban on short-selling of stocks boosted the Sydney Ordinaries by 4.33 percent to 5.050.1 while the S&P/ASX200 jumped 4.5 percent to 5,020.5.

The Shanghai Composite soared 7.77 percent to 2,236.41.

Decliners on the session included India’s Sensex, which dropped 0.34 percent to 13,994.96, and the Straits Times Index, which was down 0.58 percent to 2,544.13.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.13 percent to 11,146.31, the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.38 percent to 2,219.68 and the S&P 500 fell 2.34 percent to 1,225.67.

Crude oil prices were up sharply, with expiring October contracts for WTI spiking more than $25 at one point for the biggest one-day spike in history, while metals and grains prices also saw gains.

The US dollar weakened on concerns about the effect of the proposed $700 billion buyout of banks’ bad debt by the US government, including a possible increase in the US deficit, and on a return of the possibility that the Federal Reserve could cut US interest rates again.

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