Most Asian markets see gains

Equities markets in Europe saw significant declines on Tuesday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.4 percent to 1,587.23. The least of the losers in terms of percentage was the IBEX, which was down 0.98 percent to 14,909.7 in Madrid. In Paris the CAC-40 was 1.69 percent lower to 5,907.47, while the Dax fell 1.73 percent to 7,806.79 in Frankfurt. In continental markets, the automobile and truck manufacturing sector was mixed but had the biggest gains on both the CAC-40 and the Dax. Insurers were lower, was were utilities, semiconductors, the oil sector. The logistics sector also declined.

London’s markets also suffered big losses on the session. The FTSE 100 fell 1.9 percent to 6,498.7, while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.68 percent to 11,584. The tobacco sector, directory publishers, consumer goods producers, and a spread betting specialist all saw gains. Declines came in the retail sector, as well as for insurers, electricity generators and miners.

Wall Street was lower at midday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.69 percent lower to 13,858.80, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.54 percent to 2,676.18 and the S&P 500 was down 0.69 percent to 1,530.96, with many declines coming on disappointing quarterly reports. The chemicals sector was down, as were the semiconductors sector, credit card providers, mortgage lenders, fast food chain operators, and the telecommunications and high-tech sectors.

Equities markets were generally higher on Tuesday in the Asia-Pacific region. The exception was the Shanghai Composite, which dropped 0.07 percent to 4,210.33 on the session. In India, the Sensex added 0.4 percent to 15,794.92. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 0.46 percent higher to 23,472.88, while in Singapore the Straits Times index gained 0.64 percent to 3,665.13. In Taiwan, the Taiex was up 1.27 percent to 9,744.06. Australia’s Sydney Ordinaries added 0.43 percent to 6,455.5, while the S&P/ASX200 gained 0.5 percent to 6,422.3. In Tokyo, the Nikkei was 0.2 percent higher to 18,002 and the Topix index advanced 0.5 percent to 1,765.99. Meanwhile, the Mothers market of small and mid-caps jumped 1.98 percent to 852.21. Utilities, the telecommunications sector and banks all saw gains on the session.

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