A roundup of trading on major world markets:
NEW YORK – New York markets were closed for the Martin Luther King public holiday.
LONDON – Britain’s top share index has fallen to its lowest closing level in more than three years, with miners down on lingering concerns about metals demand and UK banks mirroring losses seen by Italian financials.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 equity index finished 0.4 per cent lower at 5,779.92 points on Monday, its lowest closing level since late 2012. The UK mining index fell 0.4 per cent, while the banking index was down 1.4 per cent.
“UK banks have pulled the index down on account of heavy losses seen by their Italian counterparts. Markets are still in a downtrend because of worries about China and no improvement in the supply-demand dynamics of the oil market,” Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said.
Banks featured among the top decliners, with Standard Chartered, Barclays and HSBC falling 1.2 to 2.2 per cent, after losses in Italian banks.
The FTSE 100 index has slipped more than seven per cent since the start of 2016 after dropping nearly five per cent in 2015. Growing concerns about the pace of economic growth in China, the world’s biggest metals consumer, and falling commodity prices have hit investor sentiment.
“The year has got off to a miserable start and many investors will be looking to trim their positions in order to protect profits, leading to an unpleasant feedback loop that could see last week’s break of key support militate into something far more negative,” IG analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
HONG KONG – Asian shares slid to their lowest levels since 2011 after weak US economic data and a massive fall in oil prices stoked further worries about a global economic downturn.
Spreadbetters expected a subdued open for European shares, forecasting London’s FTSE to open modestly higher while seeing Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC to start flat-to-slightly-weaker.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell to its lowest since October 2011 and was last down 0.5 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei tumbled as much as 2.8 per cent to a one-year low. It has lost 20 per cent from its peak hit in June, meeting a common definition of a bear market.
MSCI’s emerging stock index dropped to a six-and-a-half-year low on Monday, and was last down 0.3 per cent on the day.
The volatile Shanghai Composite index initially pierced through intraday lows last seen in August before paring the losses and closing up 0.4 per cent. It was still down nearly 18 per cent in January.
But, the Hang Seng fell 1.45 per cent, or 283.32 points, to 19,237.45.
WELLINGTON – The S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 67.65 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 6101.44.
