Hedge fund Man Group in steep decline

Elaine Frei | | 0 Comments

European equities markets saw declines Wednesday on continuing earnings concerns and on reduced broker recommendations.

In London the FTSE 100 was 1.52 percent lower to 4,182.02 while the FTSE 250 dropped 2.39 percent to 6,251.18.

Hedge fund Man Group (LSE: EMG) had the worst day on the 100 with a decline of 23.39 percent, while pubs operator Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) turned in the worst performance on the 250 as it dropped 22.95 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 3.4 percent to 853.48 while the Dax fell 2.96 percent to 4,620.8, the IBEX was 2.97 percent lower to 8,646.8, and the CAC-40 dropped 3.07 percent to 3,233.96.

Asia-Pacific region equities markets were lower on disappointing outlooks that gave little hope of an economic recovery anytime soon.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.29 percent to 8,695.51 while the Topix index fell 1.59 percent to 875.23 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 1.46 percent to 339.71.

The Shanghai Composite added 0.84 percent to 13,939.09 but other indices saw declines on the session.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.43 percent to 1,123.86 while the Taiex fell 0.5 percent to 4,615.57 in Taiwan, the Hang Seng was 0.73 percent lower to 13,939.09 in Hong Kong, and in Australia the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.85 percent to 3,927.3 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.97 percent to 3,883.6.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index was 1.27 percent lower to 1,784.01 while India’s Sensex fell 3.08 percent to 9,536.33.

Wall Street was lower at nearly 1:30 p.m., hurt by the news that the US government will not buy bad assets from banks as had been planned, but will purchase stakes in banks instead on the theory that the original plan would take to long to make a noticeable difference in the economy.

In early afternoon trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 3.33 percent lower to 8,404.68 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.01 percent to 1,533.34 and the S&P 500 had dropped 3.39 percent to 868.45.

Crude oil prices were lower again, while metals and grains prices were mixed.

The Japanese yen strengthened after the US Treasury Secretary said that the government has changed its mind about how to spend bailout money while the pound declined on higher jobless claims in October.

Tags: Asia-Pacific equities, commodities, currencies, European equities, London equities, Wall Street