Miner KAZ reported in merger talks

London’s equities markets saw gains on Monday after miners gained ground on news from Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) that it is in preliminary talks toward a merger, reportedly with a Russian company.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.74 percent to 5,300.4 while the FTSE 250 gained 1.28 percent to 8,445.7.

In the media sector, ITV (LSE: ITV) gained 12 percent on news that it might receive an approach.

Banks, insurers and retailers saw gains, but the real estate sector was mixed.

In Europe’s markets, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.76 percent higher to 1,134.91 while the Dax also added 0.76 percent, to 6,200.25, the IBEX was 0.52 percent higher to 11,443 and the CAC-40 gained 1.02 percent to 4,142.53.

Mergers and acquisitions made news in the banking and brewing sectors, while the electronics sector saw gains on a good second-quarter report from within the sector.

Banks, insurers, the semiconductors sector, builders and the aerospace industry all saw gains, while oil, airlines, carmakers, and utilities were lower on the session.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region declined on expectations that oil prices, which remain in near-record territory, will cut into earnings in the region.

The main exception to the declines came on the Shanghai Composite, which added 0.76 percent to 22,014.46.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.23 percent to 13,010.16 while the Topix index fell 0.4 percent to 1,280.72 and the Mothers market dropped 0.33 percent to 515.81.

Tokyo’s pharmaceuticals sector was down after news that an Indian pharma being bought by Japanese group Daiichi Sankyo (TYO: 4568) is being looked at in the US for not adequately controlling quality in the generic drugs it manufactures and for falsifying data.

Carmakers were down on broker comments and a downgrade for Toyota (TYO: 7203) from “buy” to “hold” on the expectation that US buyers will stay away from larger vehicles, while shippers declined after a drop in cargo rates for raw materials but the steel sector saw gains.

Elsewhere in the region South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.57 percent to 1,558.62, the Hang Seng fell 0.77 percent to 22,014.46, the Straits Times Index was 0.78 percent lower to 2,904.12, the Sensex was down 1.03 percent to 13,330.51, while in Australia both the S&P/ASX200 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 1.18 percent, to 4,921 and 5,007.9 respectively.

In Taiwan, the Taiex was down 1.21 percent to 7,156.96.

In afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.15 percent to 11,083.77 while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.66 percent to 2,224.32 and the S&P 500 was down 0.48 percent to 1,233.53.

Banks were down while restaurants saw declines ahead of second quarter reports amid higher prices and declines in consumer spending.

Yahoo (NAS: YHOO) saw declines after it turned down an offer from Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) for its search engine, but Anheuser-Busch (NYSE: BUD) on the news that it will be acquired by InBev (Euronext: INB) of Belgium to form the world’s biggest brewer.

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