BSY, TRIL downgrades hurt London media sector

London’s equities markets saw substantial declines Thursday, led by the media sector and banks, with the FTSE 100 down 2.61 percent to 5,518.2 as the FTSE 250 dropped 2.29 percent to 9,107.3.

In the media sector, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) reduced its recommendation on BSkyB (LSE: BSY) from “overweight” to “underweight”, sending shares in the broadcaster down 4.9 percent, while Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) reduced its target share price on Thomson Reuters (LSE: TRIL, NYSE: TRI; NAS: TRIN; TSX: TRI), which reduced its value by 5.6 percent.

Banks were hurt by a Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) downgrade of Citigroup (NYSE: C; TYO: 8710) to “neutral” on the likelihood of more writedowns in the second quarter.

Miners and the oil sector were both higher on the session.

European equities were also down significantly on fears of more credit-crisis losses by banks and on declines in French consumer confidence and Italian business confidence.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 2.5 percent to 1,197.02 as the Dax fell 2.39 percent to 6,459.6, the CAC-40 was 2.43 percent lower to 4,426.19 and the IBEX dropped 2.96 percent to 12,077.7.

Retailers, the semiconductors sector and stock exchange operators were all lower on the session.

There were only two winners on the CAC-40, in the pharmaceuticals sector and among steel products manufacturers, while the Dax showed no winners on the session.

Most Asia-Pacific equities markets saw declines, although most declines were small and among individual companies the number of gainers about equaled the number of decliners on the session.

Tokyo’s markets were lower after traders and miners saw declines on dropping commodities prices, with the Nikkei 225 dropping 0.5 percent to 13,822.32 while the Topix index was down 0.1 percent to 1,344.79 and the Mothers market fell 0.29 percent to 567.08.

Despite the declines, electronic game console makers were higher after broker comments that called games immune to poor economic decisions; Nintendo (TYO: 7974; NAS: NTDOY; FWB: NTO) added 2.6 percent while Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) gained 2.9 percent on the session.

Insurers and the pharmaceuticals sector also were higher in Tokyo.

Other decliners in the region included the Kospi index, which was down just 0.01 percent to 1,717.66 while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.11 percent to 2,901.85, the Straits Times Index was 0.19 percent to 2,980.95, the Taiex was down 0.55 percent to 7,811.8 and the Hang Seng dropped 0.79 percent to 22,455.67.

Australian markets saw gains as the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.09 percent to 5,421.5 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 1.32 percent to 5,307 after Commonwealth Bank (ASX:CBA) said it does not have any plans to raise additional capital because it has no need to do so and after St. George Bank (ASX: SGB) said it is on track for its earnings-per-share to grow by 8 percent to 10 percent this year.

In afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 2.61 percent to 11,503.57 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 3 percent to 2,287.77 and the S&P 500 was 2.59 percent lower to 1,287.77.

Declines came after crude oil surged to a new high after Libya said it might reduce output and after jobless claims were up again.

The technology sector dropped on negative outlooks while banks declined on the prospect of more write downs for investment banks due to the credit crisis and the auto sector retreated after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) said that General Motors (NYSE: GM) might have to raise capital and cut dividends amid troubles in the sector.

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