PRU, AV biggest decliners on FTSE 100

Europe’s equities markets declined Thursday after miners and the oil sector saw declines.

In London the FTSE 100 was down 3.26 percent to 3,874.99 while the FTSE 250 dropped 2.24 percent to 5,578.68.

The biggest losers on the 100 were insurers as Prudential (LSE: PRU; NYSE: PUK) was down 16.33 percent and Aviva (LSE: AV) turned in the worst performance of the day with a decline of 16.77 percent.

Miner Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) joined the declines as it dropped 11.47 percent after it announced a cut in aluminium production due to price declines and high costs for raw materials.

Banks were mixed, but HBOS (LSE: HBOS) had the best day on the 100 with a gain of 11.66 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) added 8.75 percent.

Newspaper publisher Mecom Group (LSE: MEC) turned in the best performance on the 250 as it added 54.3 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 3.71 percent to 781.9 while the IBEX fell 2.72 percent to 7,988.4, the Dax was 3.08 percent lower to 4,220.2 and the CAC-40 dropped 3.48 percent to 2,980.42.

The steel sector was lower as ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) was down 6.07 percent on the Dax while ArcelorMittal (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT; BMAD: MTS; LuxSE: MT) did the worst on the CAC-40 as it dropped 10.7 percent.

Banks were mixed on the Paris index, but Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) turned in the worst performance of the day on the Dax as it fell 9.44 percent, followed by Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) with a decline of 8.47 percent.

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower on worries about deflation after US consumer prices were reported yesterday to have fallen 1 percent in October, the biggest 1-month decline in 61 years and US housing starts fell to a record low last month, and after Japan’s exports were reported to have dropped 7.7 percent in October from the same month last year.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 6.89 percent to 7,703.04 while the Topix index fell 5.46 percent to 782.28 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 4.86 percent to 295.78.

At least two insurers fell by their daily limit as they cut profits outlooks dramatically, with T & D Holdings (TYO: 8795) down 14 percent while Tokio Marine Holdings dropped 15 percent.

Banks were lower after Citigroup (NYSE: C) and other US banks fell to multi-year lows in New York on Wednesday, while commodity-related shares declined on drops in metals prices.

Elsewhere in the region the Shanghai Composite was down 1.67 percent to 1,983.76 while the Straits Times Index fell 3.1 percent to 1.613.95, the Sensex was 3.68 percent lower to 8,451.01 and the Hang Seng dropped 4.04 percent to 12,298.56.

In Australia the S&P/ASX200 was down 4.19 percent to 3,352.9 and the Sydney Ordinaries fell 4.32 percent to 3,332.6 while the Taiex was 4.53 percent lower to 4,089.93 and the Kospi dropped 6.7 percent to 948.69.

Wall Street was mixed in afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.12 percent to 7,987.88 at just before 2 p.m. in New York, while the S&P 500 was 0.44 percent lower to 803.07 but the Nasdaq Composite was 0.53 percent higher to 1,393.81.

Carmakers saw gains after a group of Democratic and Republican US senators said they had reached an agreement toward a bailout of the US auto industry.

It was unclear if the plan might be able to pass the full Senate.

At just before 2 p.m., General Motors (NYSE: GM) was up 12.54 percent while Ford (NYSE: F) had added 23.02 percent.

Story link: PRU, AV biggest decliners on FTSE 100