Property developer SEGRO leads gains on 100

European equities markets were lower Wednesday after Standard and Poor’s downgrade of Spain to “negative”, predicting that the nation could see its debt rating downgraded in two years in the absence of government moves now.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.37 percent to 5,203.89 in London, while the FTSE 250 fell 1.24 percent to 8,919.49 after the UK finance minister forecast that the UK economy will shrink by 4.75 percent this year, rather than the earlier prediction of a 3.25 percent to 3.75 percent decline.

SEGRO (LSE: SGRO) lead gainers on the 100, adding 3.67 percent after JP Morgan upgraded the property developer and investor from “underweight” to “neutral”, for the best performance of the day in a mixed real estate sector.

In a related sector, Bellway (LSE: BWY) led homebuilders lower as it dropped 5.43 percent, trading ex-dividend.

Banks were mixed as Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) led the sector with a gain of 1.74 percent, followed by Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY), which gained 1.71 percent, but Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC) dropped 3.27 percent on the session.

Miners were also mixed with Xstrata (LSE: XTA) leading gainers as it added 1.93 percent, but gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) dropped 3.29 percent on the 100.

Food manufacturer Premier Foods (LSE: PFD) led the food and beverages sector lower, falling 6.74 percent, followed closely by Dairy Crest Group (LSE: DCG), with a decline of 5.44 percent.

In the financial services sector, IG Group Holdings (LSE: IGG) added 5.91 percent for the best performanc of the session on the 250 and in London, while the worst performance in the sector came from Man Group (LSE: EMG), which dropped 3.92 percent on the 100.

Insurer Old Mutual (LSE: OML) had the worst day on the 100, dropping 5.63 percent, while over on the 250 oil and gas explorer Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS) dropped 8.09 percent for the worst performance of the day in London.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower on the session, but Taiwan’s Taiex added 0.37 percent to 7,797.42 while the Kospi gained 0.39 percent to 1,634.17 in South Korea.

The Nikkei 225 was down 1.34 percent to 10,004.72 in Tokyo, while the Topix index fell 1.31 percent to 884.94 and the Mothers market dropped 0.34 percent to 404.32.

Declines came on concerns about debt issues for Dubai and, now, Greece, after Fitch Ratings cut its recommendations for both.

Exporters were mostly lower on a stronger yen, but Suzuki Motor (TYO: 7269) added 3.5 percent on reports, confirmed after the close of the day’s trade, that Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) was interested in buying a stake in the automobile and motorcycle manufacturer.

Suzuki’s news didn’t help the rest of the sector, where Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) fell 1.1 percent and Honda Motor (TYO: 7267) was down 2.1 percent.

The Straits Times Index was 0.3 percent lower to 2,797.21 while India’s Sensex fell 0.59 percent to 17,125.22.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.7 percent to 4,637.9 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.72 percent to 4,652.6.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.44 percent to 21,741.76 while the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.73 percent to 3,239.57.

At midday on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.13 percent higher to 10,299.49 but the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.22 percent to 2,168.15 and the S&P 500 was down 0.14 percent to 1,090.39.

Meanwhile, the price of crude oil dropped on new data from the US Energy Information Administration showing that gasoline stockpiles grew last week while demand declined.

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