Wall Street up slightly in afternoon trade

Equities markets in New York were slightly higher Wednesday in the wake of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s testimony before the House Financial Services Committee indicated that the Fed is more worried about the faltering economy than inflation and stands ready to cut interest rates again if necessary. In early afternoon trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.09 percent higher to 12,695.75 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.8 percent to 2,346.86 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.13 percent to 1,381.42. The mortgage sector saw gains after the government said it would remove portfolio size restrictions on Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) and Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM), making more money available to finance mortgages. Airlines were down on higher oil prices and trouble for a merger deal in the sector, while there were declines in the software sector after the European Union fined Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) $1.3 billion dollars over dealings with rival companies.

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher as commodities prices rose and on good quarterly results from the banking and retail sectors. In India, the Sensex added 0.11 percent to 17,825.99 while the FTSE Straits Times Index was up 0.54 percent to 3,094.45. South Korea’s Kospi index was 0.69 percent higher to 1,720.89. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries gained 1.68 percent to 5,842.5 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.78 percent to 5,767.2. The Taiex was 1.86 percent higher to 8,462.08. The Shanghai Composite added 2.26 percent to 4,334.05 and the Hang Seng gained 3.24 percent to 24,483.84.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.49 percent to 14,031.3 and the Topix was 1.27 percent higher to 1,364.52 while the Mothers market of small and mid-caps gained 1.54 percent to 690.27. The gains came on good news from US retailers where quarterly profits for some retailers were higher than had been anticipated. Retailers, the electronics sector, and auto parts manufacturers all saw gains on the session.

European markets were mixed after troubling earnings reports from the banking and industrial sectors. Madrid’s IBEX was up 0.13 percent to 13,454.3 and the Dax added 0.17 percent to 6,997.85, but the CAC-40 fell 0.09 percent to 4,968.82 in Paris while the pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 dropped 0.25 percent to 1,357.78. Utilities were higher and there were gains in the retail sector. Banks, semiconductors manufacturers, and car and truck makers were mixed, while the aerospace and airlines sectors saw declines.

London’s markets were also mixed. While the FTSE 250 added 0.36 percent to 10,421.1, the FTSE 100 was down 0.18 percent to 6,076.5. The food and beverage sector saw gains, and miners and the oil sector were mostly higher. Most retailers saw gains as well. Banks were lower, as were most insurers.

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