S&P 500 gains fractionally

Wall Street was lower in afternoon trade on Friday after the US Federal Reserve made two injections of cash into the market during the day, one of $19 billion, followed by $16 billion more on the heels of earlier additions on Thursday. In early afternoon trade in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.04 percent to 13,132.4, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1 percent to 2,530.95 and the S&P 500 was 0.81 percent lower to 1,441.28. By the end of the session, the S&P had managed a gain, but by just 0.55 of a point, to 1,453.64. The financial services sector was mostly lower, while the aerospace sector also saw declines. The semiconductors sector and computer makers saw gains, however, and some in the oil sector were higher.

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were much lower on the session. The biggest decline on the session came from South Korea’s Kospi index, which dropped 4.2 percent to 1,828.49. The least of the losses came for the Shanghai Composite, which only fell 0.1 percent, to 4,749.37. Elsewhere, the Sensex was 1.54 percent lower to 14,868.25, while Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 2.74 percent to 8,931.31. The Hang Seng index was 2.88 percent lower to 21,792.71 in Hong Kong, while Singapore’s Straits Times index was down 3.05 percent to 3,308.99. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 3.6 percent to 5,965.2 and the S&P/ASX200 was 3.72 percent lower to 5,936, with financial services groups and miners among the main decliners.

Tokyo’s markets were also down substantially as the Nikkei 225 dropped 2.37 percent to 16,764.09, an five-month low, and the Topix index was 2.96 percent lower to an eight-month low of 1,633.93. The Mothers market of small and mid-caps was down 1.84 percent to 762.53. The financial services sector dropped, while exporters were also lower.

European markets were also lower, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 2.86 percent to 1,482.14. The Dax dropped 1.48 percent to 7,343.26 in Frankfurt, while the Paris CAC-40 fell 3.13 percent to 5,448.63 and had no gainers on the day. In Madrid the IBEX was 2.59 percent lower to 14,453.9. Again, financial services provided many of the losses. Airlines were also lower, as were power generators, and the semiconductors sector. Car and truck makers were mixed, as was the steel sector.

London’s markets did no better as the FTSE 100 fell 3.71 percent to 6,038.3 and the FTSE 250 was down 2.88 percent to 10,889.5. Banks, insurers, and others among financial services groups were lower, while holiday transport groups – cruise lines and car rental operations – were higher, providing the best performance on both the 100 and the 250. The oil sector and food processors also saw gains.

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