Asia-Pacific markets in declines

Asia-Pacific equities market retreated Thursday after Wednesday’s substantial gains as investors worried that consumer spending is slowing in the US. Taiwan’s Taiex fell 0.42 percent to 8,905.41, while the Sensex was 0.72 percent lower to 19,784.89 and the Shanghai Composite was 0.88 percent lower to 5,365.27. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.84 percent to 6,594.4 and the S&P/ASX200 fell 1.06 percent to 6,528.6. The Kospi index was down 1.26 percent to 1,947.74 in South Korea while Singapore’s Straits Times index was 1.34 percent lower to 3,477.59. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng index dropped 1.42 percent to 28,751.21.

Tokyo saw mixed results. The Topix index added 0.08 percent to 1,498.86, but the Nikkei 225 was down 0.67 percent to 15,396.3 and the Mothers market fell 2.96 percent to 837.22. Traders and the oil sector were higher but exporters such as carmakers and electronics groups saw declines.

Europe’s markets were lower as well. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 1.1 percent to 1,505.96. Madrid’s IBEX was 0.53 percent lower to 15,725.8 while the CAC-40 was down 0.93 percent to 5,561.13 in Paris and the Dax dropped 1.49 percent to 7,667.03 in Frankfurt. There were gains among cosmetics manufacturers, the telecommunications sector and utilities. The pharmaceuticals sector and motor vehicles makers were both mixed. Banks were lower.

Equities markets were down in London as well as the FTSE 100 fell 1.13 percent to 6,359.6 and the FTSE 250 was 1.53 percent lower to 10,901.6. The tobacco and telecommunications sectors were up, but brewers were mixed and there were declines among the business services sector and property investors and developers.

New York’s markets were lower in late afternoon trade on continuing concerns about a slowdown in the US economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.24 percent lower to 13,066.56 while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.54 percent to 2,603.69 and the S&P 500 was down 1.79 percent to 1,444.19. Retailers, banks, and the oil sector all were lower.

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