Equities markets in Asia and the Pacific were mostly lower on Tuesday, the main exception being the Straits Times index in Singapore, which added 1.01 percent to 3,230.61. Elsewhere, the Sydney Ordinaries and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong each dropped 0.3 percent, to 5,952.3 and 19,706.79 respectively. In India, the Sensex fell 1.22 percent, to 13,124.32. In Tokyo, meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 was 0.9 percent lower to 17,365.05 and the Topix index dropped 1 percent to 1,723.86. Decliner included chip equipment makers, which fell after Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS; SWX: CSGN) cut target share prices on seven companies in the sector. Airlines were also lower as a promotion where new shareholders could get discount tickets ended. The real estate sector, however, added 1.5 percent as a whole after declines on Monday.

European markets were mixed. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was lower at the close, but only by 0.08 percent, to 1,509.04. Elsewhere on the continent, the CAC-40 was 0.19 percent higher in Paris to 5,587.06 and the Xetra Dax added 0.43 percent to 6,858.34 in Frankfurt. Carmakers were mostly higher earlier in the day, mainly on purchase rumors.

In London, the FTSE 100 was just slightly higher, by 0.01 percent, to 6,292.6, while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.12 percent to 11,641.8. Homebuilders were mixed on talk that Persimmon (LSE: PSN) will counter bid for Taylor Woodrow (LSE: TWOD) in an effort to head off the already-agreed merger between Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey (LSE: WMPY). The mining sector saw gains on consolidation hopes and on rising metals prices. There were also gains in the retail sector on takeover rumors.

At midday in New York, markets were lower on the news that single-family home prices were down in January in comparison to the same period last year. In addition, the Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index dropped to 107.2 in March, down from 112.5 in February and its lowest level since November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6 percent to 12,397.85, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.7 percent lower to 2,439.18 and the S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 1,428.49. Homebuilders were lower, not only on the news of dropping prices, but after home builder Lennar (NYSE: LEN) said profits were down 73 percent in its fiscal first quarter and that it won’t live up to earnings predictions for 2007. Rumors of purchases were also circulating in the US, but did not necessarily bring gains in the sector.

With file from investmentmarkets.co.uk