Tokyo equities decline on manufacturing orders data

Wall Street was higher at midday on Tuesday after new data on consumer inflation showed that prices were up less than had been expected in April, leading many to hope that the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates soon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.86 percent higher to 13,462.02 at noon after setting another new high, 13,469.82, during the morning session. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.27 percent to 2,553.31 after early losses and the S&P 500 had gained 0.62 percent to 1,512.5. The Russell 2000 index of small and mid-caps added 0.52 percent to 826.58. Some retailers were lower after disappointing quarterly reports, but there were still some gainers in the sector. The publishing and media sector was mixed after Reuters (NAS: RTRSY; LSE:RTR) said it has agreed to be taken over by Thomson Corp (NYSE: TOC; TSX TOC) in a merger that will create the largest news and financial data operation in the world.

European markets were higher on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.22 percent to 1,582.14, while the CAC-40 added 0.39 percent to 6,049.76 in Paris and the Frankfurt Xetra Dax gained 0.61 percent to 7,505.35. There were some losers in continental markets, in the aerospace and utilities sectors. Carmakers were higher, as were some in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.04 percent to 6,558.4, while the FTSE 250 added 0.45 percent to 12,092.2. Pubs operators saw gains, as did building materials company Hanson (LSE: HNS) after it revealed that it has agreed to a takeover offer from Heidelberg Cement (FWB: HEI). Reversing Monday’s gains, the utilities sector saw declines.

Most Asian and Pacific equities markets were lower on the session. The exception was the Straits Times index in Singapore, which added 0.42 percent to 3,475.08 by the close. Elsewhere, the Sensex dropped 0.26 percent to 6,297.3 in India, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng index fell 0.53 percent to 20,868.15 after huge gains on Monday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries were down 0.78 percent to 6,297.3.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.9 percent to 17,512.98, while the Topix index was 1.1 percent lower to 1,712. The Mothers market of small and mid-cap stocks, meanwhile, fell 1.4 percent to 863.32. Investors were held back by a drop of 4.5 percent in machinery orders in March. Machinery manufacturers were lower on the new data and a resulting general decline in investor sentiment sent utilities lower as well. Some games makers saw losses on disappointing profits reports. One of the few sectors that saw advances on the day was telecommunications.

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