Equities markets see declines worldwide

European equities markets were lower on Thursday, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 0.77 percent to 1,597.49. The Dax in Frankfurt was 0.5 percent lower to 7,697.38, while the IBEX-35 in Madrid fell 0.85 percent to 15,094.9 and the Paris CAC-40 dropped 1.17 percent to 6,048.31. Banks were lower, as were carmakers. Utilities and the semiconductors sector were both mixed. Meanwhile in London, the FTSE 100 fell 0.77 percent to 6,565.4, while the FTSE 250 was 0.73 percent lower to 12,130.5. The telecommunications sector was higher and internet gamers saw gains, but insurers and the mining sector both saw declines.

Asian and Pacific equities markets were also lower. In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.5 percent to close at 4,354.4 after dropping by as much as 1.5 percent in afternoon trade. The decline came after the government there warned investors and brokers to take into consideration the risks involved in stock speculation. There are fears that the Chinese markets, up substantially, could fall suddenly. Elsewhere in the region, the Straits Times index in Singapore dropped 0.72 percent to 3,515.66, while in India the Sensex fell 1.01 percent to 14,218.11. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries were 1.15 percent lower to 6,298.6.

Tokyo’s markets were lower as well, with the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index each dropping 0.1 percent, to 17,696.97 and 1,738.11 respectively. The Mothers market of small and mid-caps fell 1.9 percent to 840.68 after two days of gains. In banks, Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) was unchanged at ¥1,410,000 even though it said that profits were down by 25.5 percent in the past fiscal year and predicted that earnings will continue to decline. Shippers and the electronics sector saw declines on profit taking, while there were gains in the video games software sector.

Wall Street was lower in midday trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.1 percent lower to 13,515.65, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9 percent to 2,552.87 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.4 percent to 1,516.3. Home builders were higher on new home sales data. Metals and the media sector were both mixed on continuing bids rumors, while retailers were mixed on earnings news.

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