Markets down on day 2 of shutdown
LONDON – Financial markets grew increasingly downbeat Wednesday as investors fretted over the partial shutdown of the U.S. government.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares was down 0.6 percent at 6.419 while Germany’s DAX fell 1.1 percent to 8,596. The CAC-40 in France was 1.3 percent lower at 4,144.
The euro was up 0.5 percent at $1.3585 and not far off its year high of $1.3638. The dollar was 0.8 percent lower at 97.21 yen.
Earlier in Asia, markets were solid. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.6 percent to 22,984.48 while South Korea’s Kospi rose marginally to 1,999.47. Markets in mainland China were closed for a public holiday.
However, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index plummeted 2.2 percent to close at 14,170.49 after the government announced Tuesday it would raise the sales tax from 5 percent to 8 percent.
Associated Press