Kazakhmys, Gem Diamonds lead miners lower

European equities markets were lower Monday on a prediction from the Confederation of British Industry predicted that the UK’s gross domestic product will decline by almost 2 percent next year, making the British economy look worse than earlier thought.

In London the FTSE 100 was down 2.38 percent to 4,132.16 while the FTSE 250 dropped 2.46 percent to 5,977.03.

Miners were lower as copper miner Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ)dropped 11.86 percent, International Ferro (LSE: IFL) was down 10.59 percent, and diamond miners Gem Diamonds (LSE: GEMD) dropped 38.12 percent for the worst performance of the day on the 250.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 2.75 percent to 835.93 as the Dax fell 3.25 percent to 4,557.27, the CAC-40 was 3.32 percent lower to 3,182.03 and the IBEX dropped 3.77 percent to 8,498.8.

Asia-Pacific equities markets were mixed, with most lower on falling oil prices and the announcement by as Japan that its economy has entered a recession.

In Tokyo, equities markets saw gains on the session as the Nikkei 225 added 0.71 percent to 8,522.58, the Topix index was up 0.42 percent to 850.49 and the Mothers market gained 1.4 percent to 328.18, while the Shanghai Composite added 2.22 percent to 2,030.48.

Elsewhere, the Hang Seng was down 0.1 percent to 13,529.53, the Taiex fell 0.29 percent to 4,439.8, the Straits Times Index was 0.54 percent lower to 1,749.67, the Kospi was down 0.91 percent to 1,978.32 and the Sensex dropped 1.01 percent to 9,291.01.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries fell 2.32 percent to 3,693.5 while the S&P/ASX200 dropped 2.54 percent to 3,653.

In early afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.77 percent lower to 8,431.6 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.68 percent to 1,506.49 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.59 percent to 868.14.

Crude oil prices and most precious metals prices were lower on the session, while grains prices were mixed.

The yen saw gains as it benefited from the announcement that Japan is in a recession on expectations that investors will step away from risky currencies deals.

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