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by Elaine Frei
Europe’s markets declined Thursday, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down by 0.41 percent to 1,303.53 while the Dax was 0.25 percent lower to 6,704.32, the CAC-40 fell 0.32 percent to 4,859.42 and the IBEX dropped 0.67 percent to 13,507.9.
In London the FTSE 100 was down 0.31 percent to 5,965.1 while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.58 percent to 10,013 as the Bank of England cut interest rates to 5 percent.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.27 percent to 12,945.3 while the Topix index fell 1.17 percent to 1,248.07 and the Mothers market dropped 0.84 percent to 585.38.
Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, markets were mixed.
Among gainers, South Korea’s Kospi index was up 0.57 percent to 1,764.64 while the Hang Seng was 0.84 percent higher to 224,187.1 in Hong Kong, the Shanghai Composite added 1.69 percent to 3,471.74 and Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.86 percent to 8,829.4.
India’s Sensex was down 0.6 percent to 15,695.1 and the Straits Times Index was 0.81 percent lower to 3,064.6 in Singapore while in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries fell 1.22 percent to 5,515.5 while the S&P/ASX200 dropped 1.34 percent to 5,446.4.
New York equities markets were higher in early afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.63 percent to 12,606.08 as the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.41 percent to 2,354.8 and the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to 1,362.6.
Crude oil prices were lower in afternoon trade in New York, while metals and grains prices were mixed.
The euro was down from a record high against the dollar and it dropped versus the pound after the European Central Bank held interest rates steady at 4 percent and the Bank of England cut UK rates to 5 percent.
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