Wall Street and European markets slipped in relatively light pre-holiday trading today as investors discounted fears of instability following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, which pressured Asian markets.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 declined 1.3 percent to 8,296.12 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 1.2 percent to 18,070.21, but European markets mostly recovered from earlier losses and trading in the U.S. was tepid.
The DAX in Frankfurt was off 0.5 percent at 5670.71, as the FTSE 100 in London closed down 0.4 percent at 5364.99 and the FTSE MIB in Milan finished down 0.2 percent at 14548.20. Only the CAC 40 in Paris closed up, gaining a marginal 0.1 percent at 2974.20.
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Banking shares, including those in Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays led the decline in London after Britain’s chancellor George Osborne approved several proposals, one of which could eventually split banks’ retail and investment banking operations.
Luxury, fashion and retail stocks put in a mixed performance. Those that gained included Carrefour, up 3.7 percent at 16.59 euros, Benetton Group, up 1.2 percent at 2.86 euros, and Burberry, up 1.2 percent at 11.51 pounds. Decliners included ASOS, down 2.1 percent at 11.57 pounds, Mulberry, which fell 4.2 percent at 14.35 pounds and Hermes, which closed down 1.2 percent at 213.65 euros.
The pound traded for $1.55 Monday, while the euro traded for $1.30.
In late day trading in the U.S., the S&P Retail Index was down 0.6 percent, or 2.84 points, to 516.99, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.4 percent, or 41.10 points, to 11,825.29.
Among the decliners were Saks Inc., down 2.5 percent to $9.32; Gap Inc., 2.1 percent to $17.92, and Target Corp., 1.2 percent to $51.59. Shares of Michael Kors Holdings gained 3.8 percent to $25. The company went public at $20 a share last week.