Homebuilders fall on lower house prices, led by Redrow

European equities markets were lower Tuesday as investors waited to see what the US Federal Reserve would do about interest rates, and whether it would take any more steps to help out the US economy after last week’s disappointing jobs data.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.63 percent to 5,376.41 in London, while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.3 percent to 10,079.79.

Home builders were lower in London after home prices in the UK dropped in July for the first time in a year, while more homes were put on sale.

Redrow (LSE: RDW) led the sector’s decline, falling 7.02 percent, followed by Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV), which was down 5.69 percent while Bellway (LSE: BWY) dropped 5.02 percent, Persimmon (LSE: PSN) fell 4.94 percent and Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW), was 4.66 percent lower.

Travel agents were the biggest decliners on both the 100 and the 250 as Thomas Cook Group (LSE: TCG) fell 7.36 percent on the 250 and TUI Travel (LSE: TT) turned in the biggest decline on the 100 and in London, dropping 10.02 percent after it said its full-year results will be near the lower end of analysts’ forecasts.

Things weren’t any better in the rest of the travel and leisure sector, where pubs operator Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) dropped 5.82 percent, lodging operator InterContinental Hotels Group (LSE: IHG) was down 4.09 percent and cruise operator Carnival (LSE: CCL) was 3.93 percent lower.

Miners were lower, led by a decline of 4.94 percent for Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP) on concerns that metals demand will decline in China after imports dropped there, while the only sector constituent seeing gains there was Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS), which added 0.83 percent.

Most banks were lower, with Royal Bank of Scotland Group (LSE; RBS) seeing the biggest decline as it dropped 3.89 percent after Credit Suisse cut its recommendation from “outperform” to “neutral”, but Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) managed an gain of 0.03 percent.

Three of the top five gainers on the 100 came from the pharmaceuticals sector, led by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK), which added 2.17 percent while Shire (LSE: SHP) gained 1.84 percent and AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) was 1.3 percent higher.

Meanwhile, the biggest gainer in London was facilities manager Connaught (LSE: CNT), which added 21.82 percent after recent declines.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.91 percent to 1,061.55 while the IBEX fell 0.87 percent to 10,718.5, the Dax was 1.03 percent lower to 6,286.25 and the CAC-40 dropped 1.24 percent to 3,730.58.

Markets in the Asia Pacific region were lower, following China’s markets down on new data showing that imports into the Asian nation weakened in July, spurring concerns that consumption in the world’s most populous country is slowing down.

The Shanghai Composite dropped 2.89 percent to 2,595.27.

While imports were up during the month, for the ninth month in a row, they were up by just 22.7 percent rather than by the expected 30.2 percent.

Exports from China were up by 38.1 percent, more than expected, sending the trades surplus there to an 18-month high.

Declines in the region also came on investor reluctance ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on US interest rates, due later in the day.

The Nikkei 225 was down 0.22 percent to 9,551.05 in Tokyo, while the Topix index fell 0.34 percent to 854.68 although the Mothers market managed a gain of 0.61 percent to 383.87, all after the Bank of Japan held interest rates steady once again.

Exporters were generally lower, with consumer electronics giant Sony (TYO: 6758) down 0.7 percent while Advantest (TYO: 6857) fell 0.8 percent and Panasonic (TYO: 6752) dropped 1.2 percent.

Among automobile manufacturers, Nissan Motor (TYO: 7201) was 0.5 percent lower but Honda Motor (TYO: 7267) added 0.3 percent.

The Straits Times Index was down 0.36 percent to 2,984.29 in Singapore after a day off for a holiday Monday, while India’s Sensex fell 0.37 percent to 18,219.99, the Kospi was 0.5 percent lower to 1,781.13 in South Korea and Taiwan’s Taiex was down 0.72 percent to 7,976.74.

The Sydney Ordinaries dropped 1.14 percent to 4,563 in Australia, while the S&P/ASX200 was 1.18 percent lower to 4,540.7.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.5 percent to 21,473.6.

New York markets were lower in early afternoon trade, with declines coming ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates and on whether to put more cash into the US economy.

At just past 1 p.m. local time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.91 percent to 10,601.27 while the S&P 500 had dropped 1.06 percent to 1,115.82 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.6 percent lower to 2,268.86.

Crude oil prices were nearly $2 per barrel lower at around 1 p.m. in New York, while metals prices were also lower as gold traded just below $1,200 per troy ounce.

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