Dow, Nasdaq up after early declines

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade with the Dow Jones Industrial Average back below the 13,000 level. However, by the end of the session, the Dow was up 0.3 percent to 13,121.35 and the Nasdaq Composite had added about 3.5 points to 2,508.59. Only the S&P 500 remained fractionally lower to 1,445.55. The retail sector was mixed on gains by home improvement retailers, while the financial services sector still saw declines.

Equities markets in the Asia and the Pacific were much higher on Monday, following significant losses last week after the Bank of Japan injected ¥1,000 billion more into the money markets on Monday and the Reserve Bank of Australia’s injection of US$2.67 billion in cash into the system. The Sensex was 2.02 percent higher to 14,427.25 in India. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 4.25 percent to 5,926.5 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 4.61 percent to 5,932.6.

Taiwan’s Taiex index was 5.26 percent higher to 8,515.6, while the Shanghai Composite gained 5.33 percent to 4,904.86. In South Korea, the Kospi index was 5.69 percent higher to 1,731.27. The Hang Seng index jumped 5.93 percent to 21,595.63 in Hong Kong, while in Singapore the Straits Times index added 6.12 percent to 3,322.38. The biggest winner of the day was the Jakarta Composite with a gain of 6.97 percent to 2,041.58. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was 3 percent higher to 15,732.48, while the Topix index added 2.9 percent to 1,523.57 and the Mothers market was up 0.98 percent to 695.18. Carmakers saw major advances, while the electronics sector was also higher.

European equities markets also saw gains, but the advances were much more subdued than those seen in the Asia-Pacific region. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.54 percent higher to 1,481.43, with Madrid’s IBEX adding 0.22 percent to 14,269.1, the Dax up 0.4 percent to 7,407.53 in Frankfurt, and the Paris CAC-40 gaining 0.67 percent to 5,399.38. Most utilities were higher, as were the telecommunications and steel sectors and stock exchange operators. Banks were mixed, while airlines saw declines.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 0.24 percent to 6,078.7 while the FTSE 250 was 0.16 percent higher to 10,703.8. Miners and power generators saw gains. So did the aerospace and healthcare sectors. Insurances groups were mixed. Property developers and publishers saw declines.

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