Chinese equities decline

The equities markets were mixed Wednesday at midday on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was steady at 13,521.99, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.1 percent to 2,569.63. The S&P 500 was fractionally higher to 1,518.5. The pharmaceuticals sector and some homebuilders saw declines. Beverage makers were higher, while exchange operators were mixed on deals maneuvering.

Asian and European equities markets declined after exchanges in China fell significantly. The Shanghai Composite closed 6.5 percent lower on the session to 4,053.01 after falling as much as 7.4 percent during the day after the government there tripled the stamp duty tax on share transactions. The Shanghai and Shinzhen 300, which indexes both the Shanghai and Shinzhen exchanges, dropped 6.8 percent to close at 3,859.9. The tax went from 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent and was meant to cool down the stock market there, where share prices have advanced by 60 percent so far this year and were up 130 percent last year.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Straits Times index in Singapore fell 0.62 percent to 3,511.13. In India, the Sensex dropped 0.67 percent to 14,411.38, while the Hang Seng index was 0.86 percent lower in Hong Kong to close at 20,293.76. The Sydney Ordinaries fell 1.06 percent to 6,271.7 in Australia. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.5 percent to 17,588.26, while the Topix index closed at 1,733.75 for a decline of 0.2 percent. The Mothers market of small and mid-caps was also lower, dropping 0.8 percent to 866.65. Machinery manufacturers were lower, while the retail, metals and airlines sectors saw gains.

European markets followed the Asian markets lower. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.16 percent to 1,598.77. In the continental markets, the Dax in Frankfurt was 0.21 percent lower to 7,764.97, while in Paris the CAC-40 was down 0.24 percent to 6,042.15. In Madrid, the IBEX fell 0.34 percent to 15,137.3. Utilities were higher on the continent, but automobile manufacturers were mixed, with some hurt by the declines in China. In London, meanwhile, the FTSE 100 dropped 0.07 percent to 6,602.1 and the FTSE 250 was 0.69 percent lower to 12,023.2. Real estate was higher on takeover rumors, while the pharmaceuticals sector saw gains despite negative broker comment and utilities saw declines despite good earnings news.

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