Asia-Pacific equities mixed on economic concerns

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed on Wednesday after reports that the economies in both South Korea and Singapore are slowing and on the news that the bombing of an army bus in Colombo, Sri Lanka, had killed four. The Straits Times index was 0.61 percent lower to 3,461.22 in Singapore on reports that its gross domestic product dropped 3.2 percent on an annualized basis. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.91 percent to 27,560.52 while the Taiex fell 2.15 percent to 8,323.05 in Taiwan. In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 2.3 percent to 8,323.05 after the Finance Ministry there cut its economic growth forecast on the possibility that exports will slow.

There were gains in Australian markets after new data revealed that manufacturing was up there at its fastest pace in 5 years in December. The Sydney Ordinaries added 0.2 percent to 6,434.1 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 0.21 percent to 6,353.2. The Shanghai Composite was also 0.21 percent higher on the session, to 5,272.81. Meanwhile, India’s Sensex gained 0.81 percent to 20,465.3. Tokyo’s markets were closed for the session.

In Europe, markets saw declines. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.23 percent to 1,488.1. The Paris CAC-40 was 1.14 percent lower to 5,550.36 while Madrid’s IBEX fell 1.18 percent to 15,002.5. In Frankfurt the Dax, which added 22 percent in 2007, dropped 1.47 percent on the session to 7,949.11. The biggest gainer on the CAC-40 was industrial gases group Air Liquide (Euronext: AI), which added 0.58 percent to €102.38, while chipmaker Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) had the best day on the Dax with a gain of 0.74 percent to €8.16. The Dax’s biggest loser was Deutsche Boerse (FWB: DB1) with a drop of 5.24 percent to €128.92. Construction group Vinci (Euronext: DG) fell the most on the CAC-40, by 4.24 percent to €48.50, on the news that it has bought a stake in Aeroports de Paris (Euronext: ADP), which owns and operates 14 airports and airfields in the area around Paris.

London’s markets were also lower on the session, with the FTSE 100 down 0.62 percent to 6,416.7 and the FTSE 250 falling 0.07 percent to 10,650.7. The best performance on the 100 came from the banking sector, where Alliance & Leicester (LSE: AL) added 16.36 percent to 754p on rumors that it could resume takeover talks with Spain’s Banco Santander (IBEX-35: SAN; LSE: BNC; NYSE: STD), although neither bank would comment on the rumors. Clothing retailer Next (LSE: NXT) was up 2.59 percent to £16.66 ahead of a trading update, due Thursday. Also in the retail sector, DSG International (LSE: DSGI) led gainers on the 250 as it added 8.06 percent to 107.25p. Big losers on the day included oil and gas producer Imperial Energy (LSE: IEC), which fell 5.87 on the 250 to £14.59, and TUI Travel (LSE: TT.), which was 4.17 percent lower to 281.5p for the biggest loss of the day on the 100. Other losers on the session included Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE), down 4 percent to £29.51. PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY) dropped 4.31 percent to 27.75p.

Wall Street was down in mid-afternoon trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.26 percent to 13,098.1 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 1.03 percent to 2,625 and the S&P 500 fell 0.87 percent to 1,455.63. The declines came on a report from the Institute for Supply Management which showed that manufacturing activity contracted in December, as well as on crude oil prices which hit the $100 per barrel level in New York. Despite the declines, internet retailer Amazon (NAS: AMZN) added $2.95 to $95.59 on an upgraded rating from Citi Investment Research. Negative comments concerning the semiconductors sector from Bank of American sent shares in chipmakers lower. Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) dropped 40 cents to $7.10 while Intel (NAS: INTC; SEHK: 4335) was down $1.48 to $25.18.