BGY down after rejecting bid

European equities markets saw declines Friday as the mining sector dropped on lower prices for copper and carmakers slipped on quarterly results that suffered from poor sales.

In London, the FTSE 100 was down 1.06 percent to 5,354.7 while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.19 percent to 8,839.9.

Utilities were lower after power generator British Energy (LSE: BGY) would not agree to a takeover offer from Electricite de France (Euronext: EDF), with BE shares dropping 4 percent on the session.

Miners were led lower by Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) and Xstrata (LSE: XTA), both of which lost 5.49 percent as copper prices fell 1.4 percent on the London Metal Exchange, while most banks and retailers saw gains but most in the oil sector saw declines.

Elsewhere in Europe, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.46 percent while the Dax fell 1.28 percent to 6,396.46, the CAC-40 was 1.78 percent lower to 4,314.34 and the IBEX dropped 2.62 percent to 11,569.5.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Irish drug maker Elan (NYSE: ELN; LSE: ELA) saw declines on trouble with a multiple sclerosis drug that has caused brain infections in some patients, while carmakers were lower after BMW (FWB: BMW) issued a disappointing quarterly report and said that sales are down.

The oil sector also saw declines, as did the steel sector and utilities, while airlines were higher and banks were mixed.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region saw declines Friday as commodities prices fell and more quarterly reports held bad news than good news.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 2.11 percent to 13,094.59 while the Topix index fell 2.55 percent and the Mothers market dropped 2.69 percent to 496.32 as exports dropped last week for the first time in four years.

Banks declined, led by Sumitomo Mitsui (TYO: 8316) which declined 7.7 percent after its quarterly report showed that profits were down 51 percent, while personal computer manufacturer NEC (TYO: 6701; NYSE: NIPNY) was down after its report that net income dropped in its fiscal first quarter led to broker downgrades.

Construction equipment manufacturers also saw declines on the session.

Elsewhere in the region, banks were lower and miners declined as oil and metals prices fell, while carmakers were down on quarterly results and the real estate sector fell.

Not all markets were lower, with the Hang Seng adding 0.58 percent to 22,862.6 as the Shanghai Composite was up 0.94 percent to 2,801.82 and India’s Sensex gained 2.1 percent to 14,656.69.

Decliners on the session included the Taiex, which dropped 0.31 percent to 7,002.54 while at the same time the Straits Times Index fell 0.8 percent to 2,906 and the Kospi was down 1.31 percent to 1,573.77.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 was 1.47 percent lower to 4,904 while the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 1.48 percent to 4,978.

On Wall Street, midday trade saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.57 percent to 11,313.46 while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.85 percent lower to 2,305.7 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.62 percent to 1,259.55 after the unemployment rate was reported up from 5.5 percent in June to 5.7 percent in July by the US Labor Department.

Also hurting the markets were gains in oil prices after the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister warned on advances in Iran’s nuclear program and reports from the automobile manufacturing sector.

General Motors (NYSE: GM) issued its quarterly report, saying that it lost $15.5 billion in the second quarter and that sales were down 18 percent, while Ford said its sales were down 14.8 percent in July from a year earlier and Toyota reported that its US sales were down, with a 27.1 percent decline in it sales of light trucks.

The retail sector saw declines related to jobs numbers, while banks were down but bond insurers saw advances.

Story link: BGY down after rejecting bid