China equities drop substantially

Asia-Pacific equities markets were mixed once again Tuesday. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 4.51 percent lower to 5,113.97 and the Shenzhen Composite dropped 5.28 percent to 1,401.02. Other decliners included the Straits Times index in Singapore, which closed lower at 3,494.57. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.2 percent to 23,952.24, while the Sensex dropped 0.35 percent to 15,542.77. Gainers on the session included South Korea’s Kospi index, which added 0.63 percent to 1,847.36. In Australia the Sydney Ordinaries also gained 0.63 percent, to 6,248.6, while the S&P/ASX200 was 0.72 percent higher to 6,235.5. In Taiwan, the Taiex index was up 0.73 percent to 9,003.12. Tokyo’s markets were mixed on the session. While the Nikkei 225 added 0.71 percent to 15,877.67 and the Topix index gained 0.47 percent to 1,532.39, the Mothers market of small and mid-caps fell 2.87 percent to 656.29.

European markets were higher on the session, more than making up Monday’s declines. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 1.71 percent to 1,507.29. The Dax was up 1.12 percent to 7,457.9 in Frankfurt, while the Paris CAC-40 gained 1.72 percent to 5,478.94 and Madrid’s IBEX was 1.74 percent higher to 13,965.5. London’s equities markets were up significantly on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 added 2.39 percent to 6,280.7, while the FTSE 250 gained 2.16 percent to 11,212.3.

New York equities markets were higher in early afternoon trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.89 percent to 13,244.91, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.86 percent to 2,581.05 and the S&P 500 gained 0.72 percent to 1,462.17.

Crude oil prices were mixed after a surprise move by OPEC to raise oil production quotas by half a million barrels per day beginning in November. Metals prices were higher, but most agricultural commodities prices were lower.

The US dollar was weaker against both the euro and sterling.

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