Barclays Bank leads declines on 100

European equities markets were lower again Thursday, with declines continuing on concerns that debt problems will spread from Greece to other nations in the region as speculation circulated that Spain and Portugal will be the next economies to need bailouts.

The FTSE 100 was 1.52 percent lower in London, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.8 percent to 9,902.74.

Banks were lower after Moody’s Investors Services issued a report saying that banks in the UK and Ireland as well as in Portugal, Spain and Italy are threatened by the debt crisis.

Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC) led declines on the 100 as it dropped 6.25 percent while Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) fell 5.76 percent, Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN) was 4.67 percent lower and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS) dropped 4.31 percent.

The biggest decline in London came on the 250, where Talvivarra Mining Company (LSE: TALV) led miners lower as it fell 10.05 percent, but Gem Diamonds (LSE: GEMD) was one of four gainers in the sector and topped the winners list on the 250 as it added 5.9 percent.

Asset managers Schroders’ voting shares (LSE: SDR) led gains in London and on the 100, adding 6.11 percent, while non-voting shares (LSE: SDRt) followed with an advance of 4.81 percent.

Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) was up in a mixed energy sector, adding 1.22 percent after Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the oil explorer from “neutral” to “outperform”, while Salamander Energy (LSE: SMDR) was up 1.88 percent for the best performance in the sector but Hansen Transmission International (LSE: HSN), which makes gearboxes for wind turbines, dropped 8.6 percent as it turned in the worst performance of the day in the sector.

Grocer Wm Morrison (LSE: MRW) was down 3.1 percent, the worst performance in the retail sector, after it reported that sales at its stores open a year or more grew only 0.8 percent in the 13 weeks ending 2 May, against an expected growth of 2 percent and compared to sales growth of 4.8 percent in the previous quarter.

The best performer in the retail sector was automobile retailer Inchcape (LSE: INCH), which added 3.45 percent on the session.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.41 percent as the European Central Bank held Eurozone interest rates at 1 percent for the 13th month in a row, while the Dax fell 0.84 percent to 5,908.26, the CAC-40 was 2.2 percent lower to 3,556.11 and the IBEX dropped 2.93 percent to 9,352.6.

Banks in Italy were lower on the Moody’s report that listed them as threatened by the debit crisis in Europe, with Unicredit (MIB: UCG) 7.4 percent lower and Intesa Sanpaolo (MIB: ISP) down 7.7 percent even after a central bank official there called his nation’s banks “robust”.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower, largely on worries that China’s efforts to cool down the property market will result in a decline of as much as 30 percent in home prices there, and on continuing nervousness about debt issues in Europe.

Tokyo markets opened to declines after a three-day closure for holidays, with the Nikkei 225 down 3.27 percent to 10,695.69 while the Topix index fell 3.07 percent to 956.72 and the Mothers market dropped 2.85 percent to 490.35.

Among decliners were camera maker Canon (TYO: 7751) and automobile manufacturer Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203), each of which fell 3.1 percent on the session as exporters were hurt on concerns that the weaker euro versus the yen will devalue sales in the Eurozone.

The Sensex was down 0.59 percent to 16,987.53 in India, the Straits Times Index fell 0.72 percent to 2,839.65 in Singapore and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 0.96 percent lower to 20,133.35.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.53 percent to 7,579.48 while South Korea’s Kospi was down 1.98 percent to 1,684.71 as miner South Korea Zinc (KRX: 010130) dropped 5.7 percent.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries fell 1.99 percent to 4,598.6 and the S&P/ASX200 was down 2.16 percent to 4,573.2 as miners fell on continued concerns about a new mining profits tax to be implemented in 2012.

The Shanghai Composite fell 4.11 percent to 2,739.7 on declines in the real estate sector as property developer China Vanke Co (SSE: 000002) was down 4.1 percent even though its property sales were up in April, while Poly Real Estate Group Co (SSE: 600048) dropped 6.7 percent.

New York markets were lower after the Labor Department reported that while initial unemployment claims filed last week were down, but not by as much as expected, and on April sales figures from retailers that were disappointing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.89 percent lower to 10,771.76 in midday trade, while the S&P 500 had dropped 1.13 percent to 1,152.75 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.23 percent to 2,372.7.

Crude oil prices continued to slide, with West Texas Intermediate crude down more than $1.20per barrel at midday.

Prices for copper and silver were both lower at last report, but gold had added more than $20 to nearly $1,200 per troy ounce in New York trade at shortly before 1 p.m.

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