BAY down over 8 percent on losing day in London

European equities markets were lower on Thursday after the Ifo Institute reported that German business confidence dropped in July, while reports from the United States showing that existing home sales declined in June and that first-time jobless claims climbed last week also hurt markets.

In London the FTSE 100 was down 1.61 percent to 5,362.3 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.99 percent to 9,007.2.

British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB) led decliners on the 100 with a drop of 8.07 percent, while easyJet (LSE: EZJ) dropped 10.14 percent on the 250.

While there were some gains in the real estate and a few retailers were up, most sectors declined on the session.

Elsewhere in Europe the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.62 percent to 1,169.74 as the Paris CAC-40 fell 1.38 percent to 4,347.99, the Dax was 1.46 percent lower to 6,440.7 in Frankfurt and Madrid’s IBEX dropped 2.18 percent to 11,675.1.

Carmakers, airlines, steel makers, and the semiconductors sector all saw declines while there were gains in the telecommunications and retail sectors.

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region saw gains Thursday as the US dollar strengthened and prices for oil and other commodities declined.

There were exceptions to the gains, however, as the Hang Seng dropped 0.2percent to 23,087.72 in Hong Kong while the Straits Times Index fell 0.04 percent and the India’s Sensex was down 1.11 percent to 14,777.01.

Australian markets were higher as the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.52 percent to 5,188.4 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 0.76 percent to 5,144.1, while the Taiex was 0.8 percent higher to 7,368.08, South Korea’s Kospi index gained 2.16 percent to 1,626.14 and the Shanghai Composite was up 2.55 percent to 2,910.29.

In Tokyo, markets gained on lower oil prices as exporters were helped by the stronger dollar.

The Nikkei 225 added 2.18 percent to 13,603.31 and the Topix index was 2.24 percent higher to 1,332.57 while the Mothers market of small and mid-caps gained 5.13 percent to 533.06.

The automobile manufacturing sector saw gains, with Honda (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC) adding 3.8 percent and Toyota (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) gaining 5.1 percent on the session, while the electronics sector, banks and consumer finance companies also saw gains but the oil sector declined.

The gains in Tokyo came despite a report that exports were down on June as investors expected that declines in oil prices will boost demand for Japanese products.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.26 percent lower at 11,485.33 as the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.95 percent to 2,303.7 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.16 percent to 1,267.29.

The declines came on a report from the National Association of Realtors that existing home sales were down 2.6 percent in June and on the increase in first-time jobless claims last week.

An attempt by oil prices to rise again also hurt equities, even though prices remained below $125 per barrel and gains were only a few cents per barrel in early afternoon trade.

Banks were down on the home sales report, while there were declines in the automobile manufacturing sector after Ford (NYSE: F) reported a quarterly loss on poor sales of pickups and sport utility vehicles.

Story link: BAY down over 8 percent on losing day in London