LAND, HMSO, LII gain on home prices

European equities markets were mostly lower Wednesday after new data from the United States showed that the services sector there declined in July and on a report from the Energy Information Administration which said crude oil stockpiles grew more than expected last week.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.52 percent to 4,647.13 in London, while the FTSE 250 managed to add 0.29 percent to 8,266.08.

Despite declines on the 100, the real estate sector saw gains after UK house prices were reported to have added 1.1 percent in July to an average of £159.623, sending Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND) up 6.93 percent while Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) added 5.79 percent and Liberty International (LSE: LII) gained 5.67 percent.

Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) led the 100 and a mostly higher banking sector as it added 10.6 percent.

The mining sector was mixed, with Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) leading gainers as it added 12.93 percent even as Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) turned in the worst performance of the session on the 100 and dropped the most of any miner with a decline of 4.32 percent.

Among the biggest gainers on the 250 were pubs operators as Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) added 8.84 percent and Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) gained 6.8 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.56 percent to 934.42 while the CAC-40 fell 0.51 percent to 3,458.53, the Dax was 1.18 percent lower to 5,353.01 and the IBEX dropped 1.59 percent to 10,704.4.

Motor vehicle manufacturers were lower on the session as Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) fell 6.39 percent while Daimler (FWB: DAI; NYSE: DAI) was down 3.24 percent, truck maker Man (FWB: EDF1) was 2.79 percent lower, Renault (Euronext: RNO) fell 2.33 percent and Peugeot (Euronext: UG) dropped 2.24 percent.

Airlines were higher on the session as Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) led the Dax with a gain of 6.64 percent, Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) was up 7.07 percent and British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB) added 7.66 percent.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were also lower.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was 1.18 percent lower to 10,252.53 while the Topix index fell 0.98 percent to 949.58 and the Mothers market dropped 0.72 percent to 458.05.

Manufacturers of motor vehicles were lower there, as they were in Europe, after Toyota (TYO: 7203) said that it suffered losses for the third quarter in a row.

Toyota was down 1.2 percent while Honda (TYO: 7267) fell 1.3 percent despite saying that it expects to return to profit in the second half of the year.

Truck maker Isuzu (TYO: 7202) was 4.7 percent lower on its report that revenues were down more than 50 percent in its fiscal first quarter, while motorcycle manufacturer Yamaha (TYO: 7272) dropped 5.3 percent on loss projections.

The Kospi was down 0.44 percent to 1,559.47 while in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.97 percent to 4,272.2 and the S&P/ASX200 dropped 1.04 percent to 4,264.5.

In China, the Shanghai composite was 1.24 percent lower to 3,428.5 while the Hang Seng fell 1.45 percent to 20,494.77 in Hong Kong, the Taiex was down 1.55 percent to 6,848.24 and the Straits Times Index dropped 1.58 percent to 2,606.83.

India’s Sensex managed to add 0.46 percent to 15,903.83.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade in New York, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.87 percent to 9,239.18 while at the same time the Nasdaq Composite was 1.33 percent lower to 1,984.46 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.82 percent to 997.39.

The declines came after the Institute for Supply Management said its services index was at 46.4 in July, lower than expected and showing that the US services sector, which makes up around 80 percent of the US economy and includes such diverse sectors as banks and restaurants, remains in contraction.

In addition, ADP Employer Services reported that the private sector lost 371,000 jobs in July, also more than anticipated.

Official Labor Department jobs figures are due to be released Friday.

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