By midday on Wednesday the New York equities markets were higher as the utilities sector was higher on mergers and acquisitions news and lower oil prices helped investor sentiment. The middle of the session saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7 percent to 11,174.07, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.8 percent to [...]

In Europe on Wednesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1 percent to 1,306.63. Despite the gain, the index was down 5.2 percent for the month, the largest monthly decline in over two years. The day’s advance came on gains in the telecommunications and steel sectors.
Banks were mixed on the day. Capitalia [...]

After another sharp fall on Tuesday, the London equities markets saw significant gains on Wednesday as the FTSE 100 added 1.3 percent to 5,723.8, getting back almost half of yesterday’s decline. The FTSE 250 was up 0.7 percent to 8,298.2. Despite the day’s gains, however, the 100 dropped 5 percent in May, while [...]

In Europe on Tuesday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 declined by 2.2 percent to close at 1,293.39. Banks saw substantial losses, as did several other key sectors.
Automobile manufacturers were down on the day. DaimlerChrysler, Porsche, and Volkswagen each declined by 2.2 percent. Porsche’s losses were in consequence of a reiteration by Citigroup of [...]

London’s equities markets came back from Monday’s holiday to major losses. The FTSE 100 declined by 2.4 percent to 5,652.0 while the FTSE 250 lost 2.9 percent to 9,235.5.
Shares in companies that depend on the US dollar for a large part of their earnings were especially vulnerable as the greenback continued to weaken. [...]

With foreign buyers selling more than they bought for the fourth consecutive session, Tokyo equities markets declined on Tuesday even though news from the corporate world tended toward the positive. The Nikkei 225 dropped 0.4 percent to 15,859.45, while the Topix index was down 0.2 percent to 1,612.76.
The real estate sector was down on [...]

Most Asian equities markets saw gains on Monday, with Tokyo again being the exception as the Topix index was slightly higher but the Nikkei was down by 55.08 points on the day.
In South Korea, the Kospi Index added 0.5 percent to 1,329.22 as foreign buyers purchased more than they sold for the first time in [...]

With markets in the UK and the US closed for holidays, European equities markets declined on very low volumes of trade on Monday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.1 percent to 1,322.45.
The decline came even though the steel sector was mostly higher amid rumors of mergers and acquisitions after Arcelor said on Friday that [...]

The Tokyo equities markets saw gains on Friday as both domestic and export-focused sectors were up on the day. The markets had seen substantial declines earlier in the week. The Nikkei 225 added 1.8 percent Friday to 15,970.76, while the Topix index was also 1.8 percent higher to 1,613.78.
Banks were up 2.5 percent [...]

Despite declines during the week, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed out the week up by 1.2 percent to 1,322.02 thanks to strong rallies in the last two sessions of the week.
The oil sector saw strong gains during the week. OMV added 10.7 percent to €47.05 after it abandoned a merger with electric utility Verbund. [...]