European markets in big gains

European equities markets saw significant advances on Thursday. The Eurofirst 300 added 1.44 percent on the session, to 6,642.7. Among continental markets, the IBEX gained 1.6 percent to 15,066.4 in Madrid, while the Paris CAC-40 was 1.9 percent higher to 6,047.23 and in Frankfurt the Xetra Dax added 2.19 percent to 7,849.16. Utilities, builders, and car and truck makers were higher on the session. Pharmaceuticals and chemicals groups, however, saw declines.

In London, meanwhile, the FTSE 100 was up 1.27 percent to 6,642.7 and the FTSE 250 gained 1.82 percent to 11,809.2. Banks and other financial services groups saw advances on the day, as did some travel-focused businesses, miners and chemicals companies. Utilities in the UK had mixed results, while there were declines among automobile sales businesses, caterers, and in the building materials sector.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region also saw big gains on the session. In Asia, Korea’s Kospi index added 2.7 percent to 1,769.8 on huge gains among brokerages and shipbuilders. In Manila the PSE index added 2.4 percent to 3,628.62, while in India, the Sensex added around 1.4 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 1.4 percent as well, to 20,867.26, while in Singapore the Straits Times index was 0.87 percent higher to 3,573,43.

Gains in Tokyo were not as high, but the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index each added 0.6 percent, to 17,842.29 and 1,756.64 respectively. Exporters such as carmakers and the electronics sector were helped by a weakening yen. The steel sector was also higher on consolidation news, while the real estate sector continued to decline as investors worried about interest rates.

Wall Street was higher at mid-session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.33 percent to 13,534.05 by the middle of the trading day, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.49 percent higher to 2,594.95 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.33 percent to 1,520.71. The gains came after news that while the producer price index was up more in May than had been expected, the core PPI was only up 0.2 percent, as anticipated. There were gains among carmakers, as well as in the metals and oil sectors. Stock exchange operators had mixed results, while there were declines in the retail sector.

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