Insurer Legal & General drops 8.6 percent

European equities markets were lower again Wednesday.

The FTSE 100 was down 1.12 percent to 4,140.23 in London, while the FTSE 250 was 1.76 percent lower to 7,189.9.

The top three losers on the 100 were all in the insurance sector, led by Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) with a decline of 8.66 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.25 percent to 815.23 while the Dax fell 0.56 percent to 4,572.65, the CAC-40 was 1.27 percent lower to 3,009.71 and the IBEX dropped 1.67 percent to 9,360.6.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower on the session.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 2.35 percent to 9,420.75 and the Topix index fell 2.26 percent to 888.54, but the Mothers market added 0.53 percent to 463.19.

Australian markets were mixed as the S&P/ASX200 added 0.03 percent to 3,767.9 but the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.05 percent to 3,766.

The Kospi was down 0.22 percent to 1,431.02 while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.28 percent to 3,080.77, the Straits Times Index was 0.55 percent lower to 2,259.77, the Topix dropped 0.7 percent to 6,668.14, the Hang Seng was down 0.79 percent to 17,721.07 and the Sensex fell 2.83 percent to 13,769.15.

At just past 1:30 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 percent to 8,147.5 while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4 percent lower to 1,739.27 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.56 percent to 876.06.

Crude oil and metals prices were lower again, but grains were mixed with July contracts for corn and wheat both seeing gains.

The yen was stronger and the pound weakened as house prices dropped in June after a gain in May.

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