World stocks drop on Ukraine, China jitters

The Associated Press

15 April 2014 at 11:57 am

People stand at a barricade at the regional administration building that they had seized earlier in Donetsk, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 15, 2014. Several government buildings have fallen to mobs of Moscow loyalists in recent days as unrest spreads across the east of the country. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

LONDON (AP) — World markets turned lower on Tuesday amid concerns about instability in Ukraine, the value of technology stocks and an economic slowdown in China.

Ukraine has sent tanks and troops to reclaim government buildings being occupied by pro-Russian gunmen in the eastern part of the country. European governments have accused Russia of instigating the activists, raising the prospect of escalating violence and more sanctions against Moscow, possibly affecting the valuable energy trade

As a result, Europe's markets fared worst on Tuesday. Germany's DAX fell 1.8 percent to close at 9,173.71 while France's CAC 40 dropped 0.9 percent at 4,345.35. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.6 percent to 6,541.61.

Corporate earnings failed to pick up the mood, with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson reporting a rise in profits and Coca-Cola matching expectations.

On Wall Street, the Dow was down 0.4 percent at 16,115.31 and the S&P 500 was 0.4 percent lower at 1,823.11. The Nasdaq, which has been volatile over the past week, was down a sharper 1.2 percent as investors continue to worry about the value of technology stocks.

Earlier, in Asia, investors were mainly preoccupied with Chinese data showing the money supply dropped, a bad omen ahead of first quarter economic growth figures due Wednesday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 1.6 percent at 22,671.26 and the Shanghai Composite Index shed 1.4 percent to 2,101.60.

China's leaders are targeting growth of 7.5 percent this year for the world's second-biggest economy. But exports and imports have been weak in the first quarter, suggesting the economy is slowing and raising the risk of job's losses. China's growth of 7.7 percent last year tied 2012 for the slowest since 1999.

South Korea's Kospi fell 0.2 percent to 1,992.27 while Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.6 percent to close at 13,996.81 thanks to a drop in the dollar, which was down 0.3 percent at 101.58 yen. A weak yen is a plus for many Japanese companies because they rely on exports.

In other markets, the euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.3806 and the benchmark U.S. crude contract for May delivery was down 7 cents at $103.95 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.