Developer Shaftsbury drops 7 .49 percent

European equities markets were lower Wednesday on bad economic news out of the United States as the Institute for Supply Management reported that new factory orders were down in April by more than anticipated and after ADP Employer Services said that the US private sector lost 532,000 jobs in May.

The FTSE 100 was down 2.09 percent to 4,383.42 in London, while the FTSE 250 fell 1.08 percent to 7,688.19.

Over on the 250, real estate developer Shaftsbury (LSE: SHB) turned in the worst performance as it declined 7.49 percent, but homebuilder Taylor Wimpey added 6.67 percent on the session.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 2.01 percent to 868.1 while the Dax fell 1.74 percent to 5,054.53, the CAC-40 was 2.02 percent lower to 3,309.65 and the IBEX dropped 2.07 percent to 9,464.8.

Asia-Pacific markets were mostly higher on hopes that economic conditions are getting better after the Australian economy expanded in the first quarter with 0.4 percent growth of its gross domestic product.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.55 percent to 4,009.3 while the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.56 percent to 4,017.2.

Tokyo’s markets were also higher as the Nikkei 225 gained 0.38 percent to 9,741.67, the Topix index was up 0.1 percent to 914.5 and the Mothers market added 0.77 percent to 402.

Other gainers in the region included the Kospi, which added 0.14 percent to 1,414.89 while the Straits Times Index was up 0.34 percent to 2,383.82, the Hang Seng added 1.02 percent to 18,576.47 and Shanghai Composite gained 1.99 percent to 2,778.59.

The Sensex was 0.03 percent lower to 14,870.9 while the Taiex dropped 0.8 percent to 6,893.14.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.43 percent lower to 8,615.82 in afternoon trade in New York, while at the same time the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.31 percent to 1,812.79 and the S&P 500 had dropped 2 percent to 925.82.

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

The US dollar strengthened but the pound was weaker on declines in European and US equities markets.

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