BGY up on EEN bid

European equities markets were lower Wednesday as rising oil prices hurt carmakers and on remarks from US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the credit crisis is hurting spending by businesses and individuals.

In London the FTSE 100 was down 0.79 percent to 5,095.57 while the FTSE 250 fell 0.56 percent to 8,407.36.

British Energy Group (LSE: BGY) added 5.66 percent after French utility EDF (Euronext: EEN) said it would pay 774p per share for BE.

Most banks were higher while the retail sector was mixed, with gainers led by music retailer HMV Group (LSE: HMV) with a gain of 7.59 percent.

Miners were mixed as Lonmin (LSE: LMI) was up 4.33 percent and Eurasian (LSE: ENRC) added 4.44 percent while Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was down 5.28 percent, Anglo American (LSE: AAL) fell 5.99 percent and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) dropped 6.75 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.63 percent to 1,101.6 as the Dax fell 0.26 percent to 6,052.87, the IBEX was 0.57 percent lower to 11,112.9 and the CAC-40 dropped 0.61 percent to 4,114.54.

Carmakers were lower, with Daimler (FWB: DAI; NYSE: DAI) down 1.1 percent, as BMW (FWB: BMW) fell 1.6 percent, Peugeot (Euronext: UG) was 2.66 percent lower, Renault (Euronext: RNO) was down 2.85 percent and Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) dropped 5.84 percent on a slashed earnings forecast.

Airlines saw gains, with Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) up 2.59 percent while Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) added 2.6 percent.

Banks were also higher but the steel sector saw declines.

The financial sector led most Asia-Pacific region equities markets higher Wednesday after billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A, BRK.B) said it will purchase $5 billion worth of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) stock, dialing back investor concern about the credit crisis.

Among Japanese banks, Sumitomo Mitsui (TYO: 8316) added 1.2 percent after it said that it might also buy into Goldman Sachs while Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) was up 4.2 percent on its declaration that it will buy up to 20 percent of Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and broker Nomura Holdings (TYO: 8604; NYSE: NMR; SGX: N33), which is buying into the bankrupt Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH), gained 5.2 percent.

In Australia, meanwhile, National Australia Bank (ASX: NAB) was up 7.3 percent and Macquaire Group (ASX: MQG) added 11 percent.

Tokyo’s markets were mixed after being closed Tuesday for a holiday, as the Nikkei 225 was up 0.2 percent to 12,115.03 but the Topix index fell 0.06 percent to 1,167.97 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 1.62 percent to 438.4.

While banks saw gains in Tokyo, shippers and traders were lower as shipping rates and commodities prices fell.

Shippers Nippon Yusen (TYO: 9101) and Mitsui OSK (TYO: 9104) were down 3.9 percent and 4.8 percent respectively, while trader Mitsubishi (TYO: 8058; LSE: MBC) fell 5.5 percent.

Exporters were also lower as worries continued that a weakening economy will hurt overseas sales.

Among carmakers, Toyota (TYO: 7203; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) was down 1.2 percent and Honda (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC) fell 2 percent, while electronics giant Sony (TYO: 6758; NYSE: SNE) dropped 2.6 percent.

Elsewhere in the region, the Straits Times Index added 0.04 percent to 2,477.6, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.7 percent to 2,216.81, the Sensex gained 0.9 percent to 13,692.52, the Hang Seng was 0.47 percent higher to 18,961.99, and the Kospi was up 0.99 percent to 1,495.98.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.02 percent to 5,008.2 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 1.19 percent to 4,981.9.

In Taiwan, on the other hand, the Taiex dropped 0.8 percent to 6,132.6.

New York equities markets were higher at just past 1:30 p.m. local time as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.54 percent to 10,913.19 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.16 percent to 2,178.22 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.65 percent to 1,195.92.

Goldman Sachs added 5.58 percent on the Berkshire Hathaway deal.

Meanwhile, technology shares saw gains on the hope that the bank bailout plan would free up more money for spending in the sector.

Intel (NAS: INTC) was up 1.18 percent while Dell (NAS: DELL) added 1.47 percent, Apple (NAS: AAPL) was 2.11 percent higher, Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) was up 2.4 percent and Broadcom (NAS: BRCM) gained 5.05 percent.

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