Asia sees only equities markets gains

Global equities markets were lower on Thursday as investors worried about the cost of borrowing and became less and less willing to make risky investments. They are concerned that the increasing cost of borrowing will mean more defaults, lower earnings, and less willingness for companies to pursue mergers.

Wall Street suffered big losses in early afternoon trade. At just past 1:30 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 290 points, or 2.11 percent, to 13,494.46, while the Nasdaq Composite had lost 2.32 percent to 2,586.65 and the S&P 500 was 2.35 percent lower to 1,482.47. Homebuilders and banks were both lower, suffering from declines in the housing market and continuing problems in the subprime mortgage market. The automobile manufacturing sector, consumer goods makers, and the computer and internet sectors saw gains.

European markets saw their biggest losses in five years. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 2.62 percent to 1,530.56. Among continental markets, the Dax was 2.39 percent lower to 7,508.96, while the IBEX was down 2.66 percent to 14,540.4 in Madrid and the Paris CAC-40 fell 2.78 percent to 5,675.05. While there were gains in the chemicals and utilities sectors on the session, car and truck makers, tire manufacturers, builders, hotels operators and the food and beverage sector were among the losers on the day.

Losses in London were even bigger than they were in continental Europe. The FTSE 100 was 3.15 percent lower on the session, to 6,251.2, while the FTSE 250 dropped 3.35 percent to 11,033.4. Insurers were in focus, as companies in the sector provided both the best and worst performances on the 100. Even though an insurer was the only winner on the 100, other insurers generally saw declines, as did hotels operators, the telecommunications and aerospace sectors and retailers.

Asia-Pacific region equities markets were mostly lower as well, but there were a couple of exceptions. The Shanghai Composite added 0.52 percent to 4,346.46, a new record high, while the Sensex gained 0.49 percent to 15,776.31. Losers included South Korea’s Kospi index, which dropped 2.03 percent to 1,963.54 for its biggest decline in four months. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 0.64 percent lower to 23,211.69. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 1.2 percent to 6,301.4 and the S&P/ASX200 was 1.29 percent lower to 6,258.5. The Taiex index fell 1.78 percent to 9,566.42 in Taiwan, while the Straits Times Index in Singapore was down 1.8 percent to 3,592.68. There were declines in Tokyo as well as the Nikkei 225 was 0.9 percent lower to 17,702.09 and the Topix index dropped 1 percent to 1,737.18, while the Mothers market was down 0.66 percent to 852.13. Real estate and retailers saw declines, as did the semiconductors sector. Brokers and computer games makers were among the gainers on the day in Tokyo.

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