Most Asia equities markets see declines

Most Asia-Pacific region equities markets were lower on Tuesday. The major exceptions were in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng index set its fourth record in a row as it closed 0.16 percent higher to 31,638.22, and in Shanghai, where the Shanghai Composite jumped 2.6 percent to 5,897.19. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.52 percent to 6,772.50 and the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.62 percent to 6,750.2. Elsewhere, the Kospi index fell 0.51 percent to 2,052.37 in South Korea. Taiwan’s Taiex was down 0.53 percent to 9,757.93, while the Straits Times index was 0.56 percent lower to 3,798.45 in Singapore and India’s Sensex fell 0.97 percent to 19,783.51.

In Tokyo, markets were mixed. While the Topix rose slightly, by 0.04 percent to 1,607.21, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.28 percent to 16,651.01 and the Mothers market dropped 0.84 percent to 957.05. There were gains in the real estate and house building sectors, but drug makers and the semiconductors sector saw declines.

Most European markets saw losses on the session, with the exception being Madrid’s IBEX. The IBEX added 0.28 percent to 15,782.5. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.42 percent lower to 1,581.69. The Dax was down 0.4 percent to 7,977.94 in Frankfurt, while the CAC-40 dropped 0.55 percent to 5,803.93. Banks and construction groups were higher on the day, but tire makers, chemicals groups, and industrial gases producers were among the losers.

In London, the FTSE 100 was 0.7 percent lower to 6,659 while the FTSE 250 fell 0.64 percent to 11,479.1.
Investment managers, home builders, and property developers were higher on the session, but miners and the oil sector dropped with commodities prices.

Wall Street was lower in afternoon trade on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve and on a report that that consumer confidence was down in October, to its lowest level in two years. In addition, more disappointing corporate results were issued. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2 percent lower to 13,842.71, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.22 percent to 2,823.76 and the S&P 500 was down 0.25 percent to 1,537.08. Consumer goods manufacturers, the telecommunications sector, hotels operators and the financial services sector all saw declines.

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