Global equities markets mixed

Equities markets were mixed globally on Monday. In Europe, markets on the continent were lower. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.1 percent lower to 1,578.49. In Frankfurt, the Dax dropped 0.09 percent to 7,335.62, while the CAC-40 was down 0.36 percent to 5,917.32 in Paris. Carmakers were mixed on the session, while banks and the pharmaceuticals sector saw declines.

In London, the FTSE 100 fell 0.11 percent to 6,479.7, but the FTSE 250 added 0.2 percent to 11,924.3 on the session. Barclays Bank was lower after the announcement that it had made an offer for ABN Amro, while the pharmaceuticals sector was lower on mergers news. Brewers, however, were higher on bids and breakup rumors.

Asian and Pacific equities markets were also mixed on the session. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.08 percent to 6,192.2, while in India the Sensex was 0.22 percent higher to 13,928.33 and the Straits Times index in Singapore gained 0.83 percent to 3,388.48. On the other hand, the Hang Seng index dropped 0.05 percent to 20,556.57 in Hong Kong. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up fractionally to 17,455.37. The Topix index, however, was 0.26 percent lower to 1,705.63 and the Mothers index of small and mid-caps dropped 3.3 percent to 904.6. The Nikkei added only 2.75 points after having been up by almost 165 points early in the session. Some of the blame for the declines went to a stronger yen, which was helped when Standard & Poor’s upgraded Japanese debt from AA-minus to AA.
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Wall Street was mixed at midday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.01 percent to 12,960.6 after going as high as 12,983.92 earlier in the morning, a new high. The S&P 500 was 0.01 percent lower as well, to 1,484.20, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.02 percent to 2,526.79. The Russell 2000 index of small and mid-caps was also lower, dropping 0.08 percent to 828.78. Much of the session’s movement was driven by quarterly reports.

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