Tokyo equities markets see little movement on session

The Asia and Pacific region equities markets were mostly up on the session on Thursday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.51 percent to 5,943.4. The Straits Times index in Singapore gained 0.61 percent to 3,220.27, while in India the Sensex was 0.74 percent higher to 12,979.66. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was up 1.37 percent to 19,821.78.

There was very little movement in the Tokyo markets as the Nikkei 225 added just 0.1 percent to 17,263.94 and the Topix index closed even at 1,701.68. With the yen weakening late in the day, exporters did a little better than they had earlier. The machinery sector added 0.5 percent on the session, but domestic sectors weren’t in as good a shape. The paper sector was down 1.6 percent after Nikko Citigroup (NYSE: C) set lower target share prices for several companies in the sector. Consumer finance companies were also lower after Credit Saison (TYO: 8253) said it would lower its interest rate on loans to conform with laws setting a lower maximum allowable rate.

European equities markets saw gains as well. The Eurofirst 300 added 1.12 percent to 1,516.61. The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was 1.18 percent higher to 6,897.08, while in Paris the CAC-40 gained 1.42 percent to 5,631.53. There were advances in the automobile manufacturing sector. In the aerospace sector, EADS (Euronext: EAD; FWB: EAD) gained on reports that Finmeccanica (ISE: FNC) of Italy could participate in the Airbus A350 project.

London also saw gains, but not to as great an extent as did the markets on the continent. The FTSE 100 added 0.91 percent to 6,324.2, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.72 percent to 11,665.7. Foods and beverages companies saw gains on positive updates and bids rumors. The mining sector saw gains as well. Among losers, retailer Next (LSE: NXT) declined after the chief executive of the company sold 160,000 shares, leading analysts to believe that there were any offers in the works.

Wall Street was mixed in midday trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.2 percent higher to 12,327.11 and the S&P 500 had added 0.2 percent to 1,419.87, but the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3 percent to 2,409.47. Higher oil prices and continuing tensions in the confrontation between Iran and the West sent the oil sector higher. The steel sector gained on the news that US Steel (NYSE: X) will purchase Lone Star Technologies (NSYE: LSS), which makes steel products for use in oil and gas wells, for a cash price of $2.1 billion. In the banking sector, Citigroup (NYSE: C) advanced after Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) said that Citi will advise it on its bid for ABN Amro (Euronext: AAB; NYSE: ABN). The announcement halted rumors that Citi was looking at making its own bid for the Dutch bank.

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