5 September, 2008

Equities markets in Europe were lower on Wednesday because of continuous worries about the state of economic affairs.

In London, the FTSE 100 fell 2.15 percent to 5,499.7 while the FTSE 250 was 1.82 percent lower to 9,369.7.

Pubs operators were lower, led by Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) which had the most horrible performance on the 250 with a fall of 12.15 percent on declining profits and the desertion of its dividend.

Elsewhere in Europe, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.52 percent while the IBEX was down 0.46 percent to 11,849.1, the Dax decreased 0.78 percent to 6,467.49 and the CAC-40 was 2.03 percent lower to 4,447.13.

Asia-Pacific regional equities markets were mixed on the session, whereas Tokyo markets were higher but some others showed downturn.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.64 percent to 12,689.59 and the Topix index increased 0.7 percent to 1,220.55.

Elsewhere in the region, Australia’s Sydney Ordinaries was down 1.24 percent to 5,130.5 while the Shanghai Composite fell 1.22 percent to 2,276.67, the Straits Times Index dropped 1.9 percent to 2,706.53 in Singapore and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng decreased 2.17 percent to 20,585.06.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.31 percent lower to 11,481.34 in early afternoon trade, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.69 percent and the S&P 500 fell 0.59 percent to 1,269.98.

Oil prices cut down again, while metals prices were mixed with precious metals lower but most base metals shows an increase. Also, grains prices were mixed.

The US dollar was stronger while the euro and the pound both were weaker on new data.