BKIR, ANGL gain on government assurances

European equities markets ended higher Tuesday after big declines Monday.

The gains came on assurances from both Democrats and Republicans in the United States that Congress would pass a bailout of the US financial sector, with many promising that it would happen before the week is out.

Banks in the region were mixed, with Bank of Ireland (ISEQ: BKIR; LSE: BKIR: NYSE: IRE) up 21 percent and Anglo Irish Bank (ISEQ: ANGL; LSE: ANGL; FWB: CKL) adding 67 percent to more than make back its decline on Monday after the Irish government backed six lenders there, and Dexia (Euronext: DEXB, DX; LuxSE: DXB) added 4.47 percent gained on a bailout by the Belgian and French governments but Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) led the Dax lower with a decline of 5.02 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 1.74 percent to 4,902.45 while the FTSE 250 gained 1.22 percent to 7,888.1.

Banks in London were mixed as well as HBOS (LSE: HBOS) fell 13.8 percent, putting a deal with Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) in doubt; Lloyds, however, added 4.26 percent on the session.

Pubs operators led the 250 as Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) added 12.03 percent and Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) jumped 14 percent, while money broker ICAP (LSE: IAP) had the best day on the 100 as it gained 22.73 percent.

Miners and most retailers saw gains on the session.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.59 percent to 1,063.65 while the IBEX added 0.38 percent to 10,987.5, the Dax was 0.41 percent higher to 5,831.02 and the CAC-40 gained 1.99 percent to 4,032.1.

Insurer Axa (Euronext: AXA) led the CAC-40 with a gain of 6.24 percent while the best performer of the day on the Dax was chipmaker Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX), which added 6.97 percent.

Equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed Tuesday after the US House of Representatives rejected a $700 billion bailout plan for the US financial sector on Monday, hurting investor confidence and raising fears of recession.

After the US markets plummeted following the vote, South Korea and Indonesia joined several other nations in banning or sharply limiting the short-selling of stock, which is a bet - using borrowed shares - that the price of particular stocks will fall.

Indonesia banned short-selling for the month of October while South Korea, where so-called naked short-selling is already banned, said it would stop all short-selling for the time being and make it more difficult to borrow stock.

Taiwan also tightened already-imposed limits on short-selling and Hong Kong said it would take stronger measures to control abusive short-selling.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 4.12 percent to 11,259.86 while the Topix index fell 3.59 percent to 1,087.41 and the Mothers market dropped 2.42 percent to 402.71.

Besides the failure of the US bailout to pass Congress, Tokyo’s markets were also hurt by a gain in unemployment to its highest level in 2 years in August and on a decline in industrial production.

Steelmakers were down significantly, joined by banks and brokers, while Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203; NYSE: TM; LSE: TYT) dropped 4.6 percent on new data showing that output by Japanese carmakers fell 11 percent in August from the same month last year.

On the other hand, food processors and power suppliers saw gains on the session.

Other decliners included the Straits Times Index, which was down 0.1 percent to 2,358.91, while the Kospi fell 0.57 percent to 1,448.06, the Taiex was 3.55 percent lower to 5,719.28 and in Australia the S&P/ASX200 and the Sydney Ordinaries each dropped 4.3 percent, to 4,600.5 and 4,631.3 respectively.

The Hang Seng added 0.76 percent to 18,016.21 and the Sensex gained 2.1 percent to 12,860.43 while the Shanghai Composite was closed for a holiday.

Bargain hunters lifted Wall Street a day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 777 points for its largest one-day point decline in history.

At nearly 2 p.m. in New York, the Dow had added 3.3 percent to 10,707.69 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 3.8 percent to 2,059.04 and the S&P 500 had gained 4.16 percent to 1,152.4.

Among technical shares, chipmaker Intel (NAS: INTC) was up 6.2 percent while computer maker Apple (NAS: AAPL) had gained 6.4 percent.

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