Miner LMI drops over 20 percent

European equities markets were mostly higher Wednesday as the US Senate prepares to vote on its version of a $700 billion bailout plan for the US financial sector and on increased optimism that the House of Representatives will approve the plan when it revisits it later this week.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 1.17 percent to 4,959.59 while the FTSE 250 added 0.33 percent to 7,914.39.

Despite the gains, miners were lower, led by Lonmin (LSE: LMI) with a 20.27 percent decline after Xstrata, (LSE: XTA), which fell 1.92 percent said it would not make a bid.

Banks were higher, with HBOS (LSE: HBOS) up 21 percent and Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) adding 10.38 percent on the session.

Pubs operator Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) led the 250 with a gain of 18.89 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.51 percent higher to 1,069.04 while the CAC-40 added 0.56 percent to 4,054.54 and the IBEX gained 1.77 percent to 11,182.5, but the Dax dropped 0.42 percent to 5,806.33.

Despite the decline for the Dax, gainers on that index were led by Commerzbank (FWB: CBK), which added 16.54, while the CAC-40 was led by Dexia (Euronext: DX; LuxSE: DXB) with a gain of 9.28 percent.

The semiconductors sector saw gains, but steel makers and the automobile manufacturing sector were both lower on the session.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were also higher.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.96 percent to 11,368.26 and the Topix index added 1.26 percent to 1,101,13, but the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 2.4 percent to 393.05.

The gains for the major indices came even though the Bank of Japan’s Tankan index of manufacturing confidence fell below 0 for the first time since 2003, to minus 3, with businesses saying that they are going to cut back on capital spending.

Banks and brokers saw gains on the session, with Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) up 3.4 percent while Sumitomo Mitsui Financial (TYO: 8316) added 3.4 percent among banks.

Shinko Securities (TYO: 8606) was 5.9 percent higher while Nomura Holdings gained 6 percent.

Insurers and the pharmaceuticals sector saw gains, but shippers were lower as demand from China fell during holidays there.

Other gainers in the region included the Taiex, which added 0.78 percent to 5,764.01, while the Sensex was up 1.52 percent to 13,055.67.

Australian markets soared as the Sydney Ordinaries gained 3.96 percent to 4,814.5 and the S&P/ASX200 jumped 4.22 percent to 4,794.6.

The gains came as the Australian government said it will not oppose a hostile takeover of Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO; LSE: RIO; NYSE: RTP) by BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP; LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; JSE: BIBLT), sending BHP shares 5.7 percent higher as shares in Rio Tinto gained 12 percent.

Among decliners in the region, the Straits Times Index was down 0.1 percent to 2,358.91 and the Kospi dropped 0.58 percent to 1,439.67.

The Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite were closed for the session.

In early afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.48 percent to 10,798.49 while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.91 percent to 2,072.75 and the S&P 500 was 0.55 percent lower to 1,158.3.

Investors seemed uneasy about making any big moves head of the Senate vote on the bailout plan, due later in the day, while markets were also hurt by a report from the Institute for Supply and Management which showed that US manufacturing activity contracted much more than had been expected in September.

On the other hand, the Commerce Department reported that overall construction activity was even in August, while spending on residential building was up a bit for the first time in nearly a year and a half.

In the automobile manufacturing sector, Ford (NSYE: F) reported that its US sales were down by 34 percent in September over the same month last year.

Ford dropped 12.31 percent in early afternoon trade, while General Motors (NYSE: GM) was down by 1.9 percent.

Story link: Miner LMI drops over 20 percent