Another losing day for Asia-Pacific markets

Asia-Pacific equities markets were lower again on Friday. In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 was 0.71 percent lower to 5.671 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.73 percent to 5,670.3. The Taiex index dropped 1.35 percent to 8,090.29 in Taiwan. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng index dropped 1.38 percent to 20,387.13 after going as low as 6.2 percent on the day. The declines brought the Hang Seng to a decline of 6.5 percent for the week. India’s Sensex fell 1.51 percent to 14,141.52, while the Shanghai Composite was down 2.28 percent to 4,656.57. In South Korea, the Kospi index dropped 3.19 percent to 1,638.07.

Tokyo equities markets were significantly lower on the daty. The Nikkei 225 fell 5.42 percent to 15,273.68, while the Topix index and the Mothers market each were down 5.55 percent, to 1,480.39 and 688.46 respectively. Carmakers and other exporters were down on a much stronger yen, while the drop in commodities prices on Thursday hit miners hard. There were gains, however, in the food and beverages and telecommunications sectors.

European markets were higher after the US Federal Reserve cut the discount rate at which the Fed lends money to banks from 6.25 percent to 5.75 percent. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 2.44 percent to 1,475.99, while the Dax gained 1.49 percent to 7,378.29 in Frankfurt, the Paris CAC-40 was up 1.86 percent to 5,363.63 and Madrid’s IBEX was 2.21 percent higher to 14,288.7. Banks and insurers were higher, as were utilities, while the aerospace sector was lower.

London’s markets also saw gains. The FTSE 100 added 3.5 percent to 6,064.2, while the FTSE 250 was 2.14 percent higher to 10,686.2. Banks, some brokers, and miners were higher. So were the oil and pharmaceuticals sectors, while some assets managers, retailers, and the chemicals sectors were lower on the session.

At just before 2 pm in New York, Wall Street was in positive territory for the day, helped by the Fed‘s cut in the discount rate and its declaration that it will do more if necessary to increase liquidity in the markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.25 percent higher to 13,006.49, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 1.67 percent to 2,491.92 and the S&P 500 was up 1.88 percent to 1,437.77. Banks and mortgage lenders were up on the session, and some homebuilders saw gains. The telecommunications and pharmaceuticals sectors were mixed.