Tokyo’s markets were mixed on Monday. The Nikkei 225 added 0.16 percent to 17,358.15, but the Topix index dropped 0.12 percent to 1,657.44 and the Mothers market was down 1.57 percent to 867.62. Carmakers were lower after HSBC Holdings said that Toyota (TYO: 7203.T; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) will likely see profits weaken [...]

European markets were higher again Friday, helped by talk of a plan to allow the US Federal Housing Authority to guarantee loans for delinquent subprime mortgage holders so that they can refinance their loans at better rates and avoid foreclosure, on the theory that the plan will help relieve chaos in the mortgage marked and [...]

The majority of Asia-Pacific equities markets saw losses on Tuesday. The Sensex was an exception, but even there the gain was only 0.09 percent to 14,501.08. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was 0.09 percent lower to 21,803.57. The Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.33 percent to 5,337.3 in Australia. The big [...]

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed on Thursday. The Straits Times index in Singapore dropped 0.11 percent to 3,633.88, while the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.31 percent to 6,401.5. In Seoul, however, the Kospi index added 0.6 percent to 1,794.24 as shipbuilders saw significant gains and on privatization moves within the finance [...]

Most Asian and Pacific equities markets were higher on Tuesday. The main exception was the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong, which dropped 0.29 percent to 20,469.59. Elsewhere, the Straits Times index in Singapore added 0.36 percent to 3,527.08, while in India the Sensex was up 0.77 percent to 14,508.21 and in Australia [...]

In Europe on Tuesday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was nearly steady, losing only 0.21 points to end the session at 1,513.31 as big losses for Alcatel-Lucent balanced gains in other sectors.
Alcatel-Lucent dropped 8.5 percent to €10.02 after having lost as much as 12 percent in earlier trade. The manufacturer of telecommunications equipment issued a [...]

In Europe on Monday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.4 percent on the session to close at 1,525.97 after being unable to hold on to gains earlier in the day.
In the automobile manufacturing sector, DaimlerChrysler was 0.6 percent lower to €48.51 despite an upgrade of its target share price from €50 to €55 from JP [...]

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 1.1 percent to 1,472.65 during the week as trade was light as the Christmas holiday approached.
Among the losers on the week was the Spanish construction sector. Sacyr-Vallehermoso, which dropped 7.4 percent to €46 after it said it has taken a bank loan of €5.175 billion to pay for its [...]

After gains early in the session, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended at 1,4479, a decline of 0.2 percent. Several sectors contributed to the decline.
Still, there were gainers on the session. In the luxury goods sector, Swatch Group added 0.8 percent to SFr54.00, while Richemont, which owns the Cartier brand of watches, gained 3 [...]

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.1 percent to 1,468.30 on Tuesday on light trade.
Among gainers on the day was Alitalia, which gained 3 percent to €0.986 on speculation that the Italian airline could hook up with international carriers.
Consumer goods company Henkel was 3.8 percent higher to €112.28 on a target share price upgrade from Merrill [...]