(index / closing price / change items /% change)

Nikkei  14,923.11 -47.86 -0.32%

Hang Seng 22,828.18 +390.74 +1.74%

Shanghai Composite 2,047.35    +6.10 +0.30%   

S&P 500 1,854.29 +9.13 +0.49%    

NASDAQ 4,318.93 +26.87 +0.63%

Dow 16,272.65 +74.24 +0.46%

FTSE  6,810.27 +11.12 +0.16%

CAC 4,396.39 -0.52 -0.01%

DAX 9,588.33 -73.40 -0.76%   

European stocks declined for a second day as tension escalated in Crimea, following Ukraine’s change of government.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.1 percent to 337.53 at 4:30 p.m. in London. The benchmark dropped yesterday as Credit Suisse Group AG dragged banks lower after a person familiar with the matter said that the Securities and Exchange Commission began an investigation into its accounting last year.

“The market is split between a gross amount of liquidity and a serious situation in Crimea, and -- unfortunately -- the Crimea situation will prevail,” Justin Haque, an equity sales trader at Hobart Capital Markets LLP in London, said by telephone. “There was a lot of fizz in this market, so you only needed to have a small geopolitical earthquake, and this is actually not a small problem.”

“Instability in the Ukraine, particularly if there’s Russian intervention, will be taken very badly by markets,” Percival Stanion, the London-based head of the multi-asset group at Baring Asset Management, which manages about $60 billion, said by telephone. “People aren’t worried about Ukraine in its own right, but it would push Russia into the practically un-investable camp.”

In the U.S., Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen repeated that the central bank will probably reduce its monthly asset purchases at regular intervals if the labor market continues to improve. She testified before the Senate Banking Committee in Washington today.

A Commerce Department release showed that durable-goods orders dropped 1 percent in January. Economists had predicted the measure would fall 1.7 percent. A Labor Department report showed jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 14,000 to 348,000 last week.

National benchmark indexes declined in nine of the 18 western-European markets.

FTSE 100 6,818.78 +19.63 +0.29% CAC 40 4,402.69 +5.78 +0.13% DAX 9,602.61 -59.12 -0.61%

WPP dropped 3.1 percent to 1,290 pence. The world’s largest advertising company posted profit before interest and taxes of 1.66 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) for 2013. That fell short of the 1.69 billion-pound average estimate of nine analysts. Currency fluctuations lowered the company’s profit ">Allianz slid 2.1 percent to 128.20 euros. Europe’s biggest insurer reported fourth-quarter net income of 1.26 billion euros ($1.7 billion), falling short of the 1.31 billion euros projected by analysts.

RBS plunged 7.5 percent to 327.3 pence. The bank said its net loss widened to 9 billion pounds in 2013 from 6.1 billion pounds in 2012. Chief Executive Officer Ross McEwan outlined plans to shrink its investment-banking and overseas operations.

Essilor International SA lost 2.9 percent to 76.58 euros. The French maker of contact lenses reported net income in 2013 of 593 million euros, missing the 608 million-euro average estimate of analysts.

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S slipped 3.4 percent to 63,850 kroner. The world’s largest container-shipping line said Ebit declined 7.5 percent to 41.2 billion kroner ($7.6 billion) in 2013, missing the 43.1 billion-kroner average of analyst estimates.

U.S. stock futures were little changed as investors analyzed data on jobless claims and durable goods before testimony from the Federal Reserve’s Janet Yellen.

Global markets:

Nikkei 14,923.11 -47.86 -0.32%

Hang Seng 22,828.18 +390.74 +1.74%

Shanghai Composite 2,047.35 +6.10 +0.30%

FTSE 6,786.81 -12.34 -0.18%

CAC 4,383.81 -13.10 -0.30%

DAX 9,557.87 -103.86 -1.07%

Crude oil $102.61 (+0.02%)

Gold $1332.80 (+0.36%).

European stocks declined for a second day as companies from WPP Plc to Allianz SE posted profit that missed estimates. U.S. index futures erased their advance, while Asian shares were little changed.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.4 percent to 336.21 at 9:25 a.m. in London today. The benchmark fell yesterday as Credit Suisse Group AG dragged banks lower after a person familiar with the matter said that the Securities and Exchange Commission began an investigation into its conduct last year. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost less than 0.1 percent today, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index was unchanged.

In Germany, the Federal Labor Agency reported that unemployment in Europe’s largest economy decreased by 14,000 this month, more than the average forecast of 10,000 in a Bloomberg survey. Joblessness fell by 28,000 in January.

WPP sank 5.2 percent to 1,262 pence. The world’s largest advertising company posted profit before interest and taxes of 1.66 billion pounds ($2.8 billion) for 2013. That fell short of the 1.69 billion-pound average estimate of nine analysts.

Allianz slid 2.4 percent to 127.80 euros. Europe’s biggest insurer reported fourth-quarter net income of 1.26 billion euros ($1.7 billion), falling short of the 1.31 billion euros projected by analysts. The company also said it will increase its dividend for 2013 to 5.30 euros a share from the 4.50 euros distributed to shareholders for 2012. That matched a Bloomberg Dividend Forecast.

RBS declined 6.6 percent to 330.5 pence. The bank said its net loss widened to 9 billion pounds in 2013 from 6.1 billion pounds in 2012. Chief Executive Officer Ross McEwan outlined plans to shrink its investment banking and overseas operations.

FTSE 100 6,739.51 -59.64 -0.88%

CAC 40 4,358.57 -38.34 -0.87%

DAX 9,512.66 -149.07 -1.54%

Asian stocks pared losses as Chinese shares rose. Tencent Holdings Ltd. extended a record high while Qantas Airways Ltd.  dragged Australian equities lower.

Nikkei 225 14,923.11 -47.86 -0.32%

S&P/ASX 200 5,411.45 -25.55 -0.47%

Shanghai Composite 2,047.35 +6.10 +0.30%

The Shanghai Composite Index headed for its steepest gain in a week as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and technology companies rallied.

Tencent jumped 4.8 percent, contributing the most to the Hang Seng Index’s advance.

Qantas lost 9 percent in Sydney, the biggest decline since Dec. 5, after Australia’s largest airline said it will cut 5,000 jobs and defer new jets.

Mitsubishi Estate Co. sank 3.1 percent in Tokyo as developers led declines among the Topix index’s 33 industry groups.