Asian markets gain as Europe, Wall Street see declines

Tokyo’s equities markets were higher on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.25 percent and on a stronger US dollar, which added 2.6 percent versus the yen Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 was up 2.48 percent to 12,260.44 and the Topix index added 2.81 percent to 1,196.3 while the Mothers market gained 1.9 percent to 574.11. Brokers, banks and the electronics sector all saw gains on Tuesday’s news out of the United States. On the other hand, the oil sector dropped on yesterday’s declines in oil prices while insurers were down on expectations that the Bank of Japan will cut interest rates to 0.1 percent this year.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, most markets saw gains. The exception was slight, with the Straits Times Index dropping 0.01 percent to 2,833.21. In India, the Sensex was up 1.09 percent to 14,994.83. The Taiex was 1.51 percent higher to 8,179.35 while South Korea’s Kospi index added 2.11 percent to 1,622.23. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 2.26 percent to 21,866.94. The Shanghai Composite was up 2.53 percent to 3,761.6. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 3.59 percent to 5,349.2 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 3.99 percent to 5,289.1.

European markets were lower on the session. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.94 percent to 1,230.28. The Dax and the IBEX each dropped 0.5 percent to 6,361.22 and 12,964.7 respectively, while the CAC-40 fell 0.58 percent to 4,555.95 in Paris. Banks were mixed. Carmakers, airlines, and hotels operators saw gains. The telecommunications sector declined on profits warnings, while the aerospace and semiconductors sectors were also lower.

London’s markets dropped as well, with the FTSE 100 down 1.07 percent to 5,545.6 and the FTSE 250 dropped 0.52 percent to 9,551.2. The declines there came on a warning that sales will drop from the retail sector and on a decline in banks after rumors that HBOS (LSE: HBOS) could be having liquidity problems. Banks were mixed on those rumors. Insurers were mixed as well. The retail sector was mostly lower, as were miners. There were gains in the tobacco sector.

Wall Street was lower in mid-afternoon trade in New York on profit-taking after Tuesday’s big gains, spurred by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.92 percent to 12,278.36 while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.88 percent lower to 2,248.4 and the S&P 500 fell 0.84 percent to 1,319.57. Investment banks were mixed even though quarterly results from within the sector were better than expected. The semiconductors sector was lower after a profits warning from within the sector, while airlines gained on falling oil prices. Credit card processor Visa Inc (NYSE: V) was up 33 percent on its first day of trade.

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