SPD drops 16 percent in mostly lower retail sector

European equities markets were mixed Thursday as banks saw declines and the retail sector was also mostly lower.

The FTSE 100 was 0.33 percent lower to 4,987.68 in London, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.12 percent to 9,125.71.

Retailers were the biggest losers on both the 100 and the 250, with Sports Direct International (LSE: SPD) down 16.3 percent to lead the 250 while Home Retail Group (LSE: HOME) fell 6.73 percent for the worst performance of the day on the 100.

Other retailers seeing significant declines included Carpetright (LSE: CPR), which was down 9.13 percent, Game Group (LSE: EBQ), with a decline of 7.1 percent, while clothing retailer Next (LSE: NXT) dropped 4.12 percent and DIY retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KFG) was 3.98 percent lower.

Travel-related shares did better as Thomas Cook Group (LSE: TCG) added 4.61 percent to lead the 100 and TUI Travel (LSE: TT) gained 4.17 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 managed to add 0.07 percent to 988.52 and the Dax was up 0.37 percent to 5,594.77, but the CAC-40 was down 0.05 percent to 3,705.87 and the IBEX dropped 1.06 percent to 11,340.8.

Banks were mostly lower as Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) fell 3.71 percent for the worst performance of the day on the Dax while BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) was down 2.31 percent, Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) was 1.03 percent lower and Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) dropped 0.81 percent.

Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB), however, added 1.67 percent.

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Merck (FWB: MRK) had the best day on the Dax as it added 2.77 percent, while steel tube manufacturer Vallourec (Euronext: VK) was up 5.46 percent for the biggest gain on the CAC-40.

Hotels operator Accor (Euronext: AC) was the biggest decliner on the CAC-40 as it dropped 2.64 percent on the session.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher on the session, with both the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index in Tokyo seeing their biggest one-day rise in two weeks.

The Nikkei was 1.95 percent higher to 10,513.67 while the Topix index added 1.98 percent to 958.49 and the Mothers market gained 2.65 percent to 459.72.

Banks were up in Tokyo after recent declines as Mizhuo Financial Group (TYO: 8411) added 2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306) gained 4.4 percent.

The semiconductors sector in Asia also saw gains as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TT: 2330; NYSE: TSM; LSE: TMSD) was up 2.4 percent, Elpida Memory Inc (TYO: 6665) added 3.4 percent and Sumco Corp (TYO: 3436) gained 3.9 percent.

India’s Sensex added 0.21 percent to 16,216.86 while in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries gained 1.02 percent to 4,573.5 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.07 percent to 4,570.8.

The Hang Seng was 1.05 percent higher to 21,069.56, the Taiex added 1.12 percent to 7,332.08, the Straits Times Index was up 1.19 percent to 2,682.02 and the Kospi gained 2.3 percent to 1,644.68.

In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.73 percent to 2,924.88.

New York markets were up a bit after the US Labor Department reported a decline to 550,000 in new jobless claims filings last week, while in the latest available data the number of individuals receiving continuing unemployment benefits were down 159,000 to around 6.1 million.

At just before 1 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.35 percent to 8,580.78 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.47 percent to 2,070.04 and the S&P 500 was 0.37 percent higher to 1,037.17.

Story link: SPD drops 16 percent in mostly lower retail sector