TW, PSN gain on stamp tax suspension

European equities markets saw gains Tuesday as crude oil prices fell substantially, sending airlines and other travel-related shares and retail shares higher as consumers are expected to have more money to spend.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 0.32 percent to 5,620.7 while the FTSE 250 gained 1.43 percent to 9,543.6.

Home builders were higher after Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a £1 billion iniative to help the housing market and suspended the stamp tax on home purchases under £175,000, with Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) adding 8o.48 percent and Persimmon (LSE: PSN) gaining 10.12 percent.

All of the losers on the 250 and the top two losers on the 100 were in the oil sector, while British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB) up 4.4 percent and easyJet (LSE: EZJ) added 10.73 percent.

Other travel-related shares also gained, with travel agent Thomas Cook (LSE: TCG.L) up 7.21 percent as cruise line operator Carnival (LSE: CCL; NYSE: CCL) gained 7.35 percent.

Elsewhere in Europe the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.85 percent to 1,199.43 as the CAC-40 added 1.5 percent to 4,539.07, the Dax was 1.51 percent higher to 6,518.47 and the IBEX gained 1.8 percent to 11,903.9.

Airlines were up in Europe as well, with Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) up 4.7 percent while Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) added 6.93 percent.

On the other hand, the biggest declines on both the Dax and the CAC-40 came from the steel sector, with ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA) down 3.27 percent and ArcelorMittal (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT; BMAD: MTS; LuxSE: MT) dropped 4.87 percent.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower Tuesday on political developments and on news from central banks in some nations.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 1.75 percent to 12,609.47 while the Topix index fell 1.48 percent to 1,212.37 and the Mothers market dropped 1.6 percent to 460.53 after Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda resigned after less than a year in office amid low performance ratings.

Declines also came on dropping prices for crude oil and metals, with oil prices going down after Hurricane Gustav weakened without causing major damage to offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico and refineries along the US Gulf Coast.

In the oil sector, Japan Petroleum Exploration (TYO: 1662) was down 5.1 percent while Inpex Holdings (TYO: 1605) fell 6.7 percent, while among traders who deal in commodities Mitsui and Company (TYO: 8031) dropped 5.4 percent.

Shippers declined on more declines in shipping fees while real estate investors were down on broker downgrades within the sector.

Also affecting markets in the region was a state of emergency declaration from Thailand’s prime minister after violent demonstrations in Bangkok amid allegations of election fraud on the part of the PM’s People’s Power Party.

In news related to central banks, Australian shares fell after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 7 percent, the first rate cut there in several years, while India’s equities saw gains after a new central bank governor was appointed there.

The Hang Seng added 0.65 percent to 21,042.46 while the Straits Times Index was up 1.66 percent to 2,758.94 and India’s Sensex gained 3.8 percent to 15,049.86.

The interest rate cut in Australia didn’t hurt markets much, but the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.04 percent to 5,116 and the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.1 percent to 5,195 while elsewhere the Kospi was 0.52 percent lower to 1,407.14, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.87 percent to 2,304.89 and the Taiex dropped 1.66 percent to 6,699,82.

At just past noon on Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.01 percent higher to 11,660.1 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.24 percent to 2,373.16 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.29 percent to 1,286.59.

Crude oil prices were down below $106 per barrel, an 8.7 percent decline, during the session and was still trading below $110 per barrel in early afternoon trade.

Consequently, carmakers and airlines were higher as General Motors (NYSE: GM) added 5.8 percent and Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) had jumped 16.5 percent.

On the other hand, shares of oil companies were down as ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) was down 2.61 percent and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) dropped 3.13 percent.

Story link: TW, PSN gain on stamp tax suspension