Asia-Pacific markets mixed on session

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed Tuesday, with banks in decline but commodities producers higher as metals and oil prices again saw gains.

Gainers on the session included the Straits Times Index with an advance of 0.02 percent to 3,248.75 while the Hang Seng added 0.3 percent to 26,262.13, the Taiex was up 0.23 percent to 8,857.37 and the Kospi index gained 0.58 percent to 1,859.06.

There were declines in Australia, where the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.34 percent to 5,777.9 and the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.5 percent to 5,701.4, while India’s Sensex was 0.67 percent lower to 17,373.75 and the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.73 percent to 3,733.5.

Tokyo’s markets remained closed for a holiday.

Markets were lower in Europe after disappointing results from the banking and insurance sectors.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.46 percent to 1,351.76 while the CAC-40 fell 0.44 percent to 5,040.92, the IBEX was 0.48 percent lower to 14,005.8 and the Dax dropped 0.5 percent to 7,017.1.

Banks and insurers were both lower, as were some carmakers, while utilities and the semiconductors and steel sectors saw gains on the session.

London’s markets were mixed, with the FTSE 100 losing a bare 0.3 point to 6,215.2 even as the FTSE 250 added 0.37 percent to 10,329.

Most in the oil sector were higher after Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) announced a big discovery off the coast of Ghana.

Miners were also higher on the session, but banks were mixed, as were real estate developers after a downgrade of their sector.

Airlines declined on higher fuel costs and on broker downgrades within the sector while the pharmaceuticals sector, retailers, most insurers and utilities all saw declines.

In early afternoon trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.19 percent to 12,994.45 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.64 percent to 2,479.99 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.63 percent to 1,416.42.

The gains came despite a spike in oil prices to above $122 per barrel and big losses in the financial and homebuilding sectors, where quarterly losses and cuts in dividends were announced.

The semiconductors sector helped gains on the Nasdaq as the sector saw gains after news concerning an antitrust suit between two of the largest companies in the sector.

Yahoo (NAS: YHOO) and Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) both gained on the possibility that talks toward a deal between the two would resume after breaking down over the weekend.

Story link: Asia-Pacific markets mixed on session