Hedge fund Man Group drops 31 percent

European equities markets saw substantial declines on disappointing earnings reports and after the Bank of England and the European Central Bank both cut interest rates during the day to 3 percent and 3.25 percent respectively.

The FTSE 100 was down 5.7 percent to 4,272.41 in London, while the FTSE 250 was 3.5 percent lower to 6,521.02.

The biggest loser on the 100 was hedge fund group Man Group (LSE: EMG), which dropped 31.1 percent after it reported that its profits fell by 24 percent, while retailer Marks & Spencer had the best day on the 100 with a gain of 3.27 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 5.78 percent to 898.13 as the IBEX fell 6.27 percent to 9,133.9, the CAC-40 was 6.38 percent lower to 3,387.25 and the Dax dropped 6.84 percent to 4,813.57.

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower on reduced outlooks from several sectors and by disappointing data from the US.

In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 was down 6.53 percent to 8,899.14 while the Topix index fell 5.96 percent to 909.3 and the Mothers market dropped 3.23 percent to 324.65.

Elsewhere in the region, the Shanghai Composite was down 2.44 percent to 1,717.72 while the Straits Times Index was 2.66 percent lower to 1,819.2 and the Sensex fell 3.81 percent to 9,734.22.

In Australia the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 4.22 percent to 4,106.5 and the S&P/ASX200 was down 4.31 percent to 4,149.7.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 5.71 percent to 4,694.12 while the Hang Seng was 7.08 percent lower to 13,790.04 in Hong Kong and South Korea’s Kospi dropped 7.56 percent to 1,092.22.

Poor October sales data from US department stores were a factor in sending Wall Street lower in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 4.7 percent to 8,709.49 while the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.98 percent to 1,614.75 and the S&P 500 had dropped 4.85 percent to 906.53.

Crude oil and metals prices were lower while grains prices were mixed as soybeans saw slight gains.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Hedge fund Man Group drops 31 percent