Asia-Pacific equities markets down

Most Asia-Pacific equities markets were lower Wednesday. One of the few exceptions to the decline was in India, where the Sensex added 0.5 percent to 14,993.04. Elsewhere, the Kospi was 0.17 percent lower to 1,826.19 in South Korea, while Taiwan’s Taiex index fell 0.97 percent to 8,643.32. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was 1.47 percent lower to 23,020.6, while the Straits Times index closed at 3,334.66 in Singapore. The Shanghai Composite was down 1.64 percent to 5,109.43. In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped by an identical 1.23 percent to 6,100.3 and 6,101.4 respectively as banks and miners saw declines.

Declining consumer confidence in the US hurt exporters in Tokyo, where the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.69 percent to 16,012.83 and the Topix was down 1.71 percent to 1,557.55. The Mothers market of small and mid-caps fell 2.09 percent to 716.06. There were gains in the internet sector and truck makers saw gains. Carmakers, however, along with camera and games console manufacturers were lower. In more domestically-related sectors, banks and real estate were both down on the session.

European markets were higher after Tuesday’s losses. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.47 percent to 1,497.28. In Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.12 percent to 7,439.18. Madrid’s IBEX added 0.42 percent to 14,183.6, while the CAC-40 was up 0.84 percent to 5,520.02 in Paris. Retailers, airlines, hotels operators and some carmakers saw gains, while others in the auto sector declined. Utilities were lower as well.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.49 percent to 6,132.2 and the FTSE 250 added 0.91 percent to 10,891.9. Water utilities, internet gamblers, and hotels operators were higher on the session, while insurers were mixed. Property developers, house builders, and some in the financial services sector was declines.

Wall Street was higher in early afternoon trade as investors hunted bargains after Tuesday’s big declines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.85 percent to 13,152.73, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.03 percent higher to 2,526.49 and the S&P 500 gained 0.94 percent to 1,445.83. The oil sector gained on the news that crude oil and gasoline inventories were lower in the week ending 24 August, while retailers were higher on better outlooks in the sector.

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