More declines for equities markets

Wall Street was down by midday on Thursday after yields on US Treasury bonds went above 5 percent and sales reports for May from retailers were mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.45 percent lower to 13,404.64 after losing early advances, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.63 percent lower to 2,570.97 and the S&P 500 dropped 0.69 percent to 1,506.98. In addition, the Russell 2000 index of small and mid-caps fell 0.95 percent to 833.24. Retailers were mixed, with luxury retailers doing better than discounters met its own sales goals, it did not meet Wall Street’s expectations and dropped 80 cents to $63.30. Media companies also saw losses, as did carmakers. There were gains among computer makers.

Asia Pacific equities markets were also lower on the session. The Straits Times index in Singapore dropped 0.07 percent to 3,558.55, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.09 percent to 10,800.16. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries were 0.46 percent lower to 6,338.2, while the Sensex dropped 0.49 percent to 14,186.18 in India. The main exception to the declines came in Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index each added 0.1 percent, to 18,053.38 and 1,779.72 respectively. The electronics sector on the export-focused side and real estate among domestic sectors both saw declines in Tokyo.

European equities markets were down again. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.13 percent to 1,568.56. In Madrid the IBEX fell 1.36 percent to 14,725.9, while the Dax was 1.44 percent lower to 7,618.61 in Frankfurt and the Paris CAC-40 dropped 1.46 percent to 5,890.49. Both carmakers and utilities saw mixed results.

In London the FTSE 100 dropped 0.27 percent to 6,505.1, while the FTSE 250 fell 1.32 percent to 11,626.3. Homebuilders and property development companies declined, and so did some banks and power generators. The best performance on the day on the 100 came from the telecommunications sector. There were also gains in the pharmaceuticals sector as well as among miners, oil companies and retailers.

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