Banks, insurers see gains in Europe

Banks began to recover in Europe on Wednesday as the markets there saw big gains after the US Federal Reserve decided Tuesday to cut US interest rates by 0.5 percent to 4.75 percent. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 2.73 percent higher to 1,550.62. Frankfurt’s Dax gained 2.32 percent to 7,750.84, while the IBEX added 3.19 percent to 14,487.8 in Madrid and the Paris CAC-40 was up 3.27 percent to 5,730.82. Besides the banking sector, insurers and tire makers were among the winning sectors, while eyeglass lens makers and the health care sector declined.

Miners were the big gainers in London, where the FTSE 100 gained 2.81 percent to 6,460 and the FTSE 250 was 3.09 percent higher to 11,136.3. Also seeing gains were mortgage lenders and the financial services sector. But some banks were still lower and the tobacco sector was down on the session.

Asia-Pacific equities markets saw gains as well. The only major exception was the Shanghai Composite, which dropped 0.55 percent to 5,395.26 in China. In Taiwan, the Taiex added 0.3 percent to 8,926.38. The Sydney Ordinaries gained 2.48 percent to 6,362, while the S&P/ASX200 was up 2.64 percent to 6,356.1. Singapore’s Straits Times index was 3.35 percent higher to 3,594.36 while in South Korea the Kospi index was up 3.48 percent to 1,902.65. The Hang Seng climbed above the 25,000 level for the first time to a new record high close of 25,554.65, a gain of 3.98 percent. In India, meanwhile, the Sensex jumped 4.17 percent to 16,322.75.

Tokyo’s markets also saw significant gains after the Fed’s move and after the Bank of Japan voted to hold its overnight rate at 0.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 added 3.67 percent to 16,381.54, while the Topix index gained 3.75 percent to 1,567.58 and the Mothers market was up 2.08 percent to 633.34. Banks, exporters, and shares related to the oil sector all saw advances.

Wall Street continued to advance. In midday trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.69 percent to 13,833.76 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.84 percent to 2,673.9 and the S&P 500 gained 0.83 percent to 1,532.36. The Russell 2000 of small and mid-caps was 1.63 percent higher to 819.74. Another drop in new home sales in August didn’t hurt some house builders, which saw gains, while mortgage lenders and metals-related shares were helped out by the Fed’s interest rate cut.

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