Serco Group leads 100 on 6 percent gain

European equities markets were lower Wednesday despite optimistic data that included a gain in German business sentiment.

The FTSE 100 was 0.53 percent lower to 4,890.58 in London, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.88 percent to 8,783.21.

Business services provider Serco Group (LSE: SRP) led gains on the 100 with an advance of 6 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.47 percent to 974.19 while the CAC-40 fell 0.33 percent to 3,668.34, the IBEX was 0.45 percent lower to 11,376.4 and the Dax dropped 0.63 percent to 5,521.97.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were up after good first half results from China’s biggest international airline and its largest life insurance company.

These results helped send the Shanghai Composite up 1.78 percent on the session to 2,967.6.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1.36 percent to 10,639.71 while the Topix index was up 1.09 percent to 975.59 and the Mothers market gained 0.37 percent to 459.78.

Elsewhere in the region, the Hang Seng was up 0.1 percent to 20,456.32 while the Straits Times Index added 0.37 percent to 2,628.43, the Sensex was 0.52 percent higher to 15,769.85 and the Kospi gained 0.8 percent to 1,614.12.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.06 percent to 4,464.4 while the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.11 percent to 4,454.5.

In Taiwan, the Taiex dropped 1.32 percent to 6,719.21.

New York markets were lower in early afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.08 percent to 9,531.96 at just before 1 p.m. while at the same time the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.36 percent to 2,017 and the S&P 500 was 0.22 percent lower to 1,025.75.

Crude oil prices were down in afternoon trade in New York as the US Energy Information Administration said that crude stockpiles rose slightly last week, while precious metals prices fell as well but grains prices were mixed in Chicago trade.