Miner KAZ leads gains on FTSE 100

European equities markets were higher Monday after the London Interbank Office Rate, or Libor, the rate banks charge each other for 3-month loans in US dollars, fell 17 basis points to 2.86 percent and as investors seemed to ignore reports out of the UK and US showing that manufacturing activity was down in both nations in October.

In the UK, an industry report, the CIPD?Markit, showed its manufacturing index at 41.5 percent in October, slightly better than its level at 41.2 in September but leaving the sector in contraction.

In London the FTSE 100 added 1.51 percent to 4,443.28 while the FTSE 250 gained 2.57 percent to 6,443.71.

Miners were mixed as copper miner Kazahkmys (LSE: KAZ) had the best day on the 100 with a gain of 18.3 percent while gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) was the worst performer on the 100 as it dropped 4.59 percent.

Over on the 250, homebuilder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) performed best with a gain 0f 37.5 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.17 percent to 930.42 as the Dax added 0.78 percent to 5,026.84, the CAC-40 was 1.17 percent higher to 3,527.97 and the IBEX gained 1.27 percent to 9,231.8.

The steel sector saw gains, with ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) adding 6.33 percent on the Dax while Arcelor Mittal (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT; BMAD: MTS; LuxSE: MT) had the best day on the CAC-40 with a gain of 9.65 percent.

Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) had the worst day by far on the Dax as it dropped 21.32 percent after Deutsche Boerse (FWB: DB1) limited VW’s weighting on the Dax and introduced new rules so that it can remove any stock from the Dax when its weighting exceeds 10 percent and its share price exceeds a set volatility over the past month.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher Monday, with gains coming on more pledges of help from the South Korean government for the economy there and after India cut interest rates.

This time, the South Korean government has announced plans to help farmers, smaller companies, the labor market and those individuals with lower incomes.

Banks gained across the region as money-market rates fell and speculation circulated that there could be more interest rate cuts to come, including in Australia tomorrow.

The main exception to the gains was in China, where the Shanghai Composite fell 0.52 percent to 1,719.77 on new data showing that manufacturing activity in the Asian nation contracted in October and that export orders were also down in the month.

The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing’s Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 44.6 in October, down from 51.2 in September.

South Korea’s Kospi added 1.44 percent to 1,129.08, the Taiex was up 2.55 percent to 4,995.06, the Hang Seng was 2.69 percent higher to 14,344.37, and the Straits Times Index gained 4.99 percent to 1,883.75.

In Australia, meanwhile, the Sydney Ordinaries added 4.78 percent to 4,173 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 5.06 percent to 4,221.5 while in India the Sensex gained 5.62 percent to 10,337.68.

Japan’s equities markets were closed in observation of Culture Day.

At just past 1 p.m. in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.23 percent higher to 9,346.67 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.78 percent to 1,734.31 and the S&P 100 had gained just 0.01 percent to 968.86.

The Nasdaq was helped by a Citigroup (NYSE: C) upgrade of the semiconductors sector which sent Nvidia (NAS: NVDA) up 1.83 percent while Integrated Device Technology (NAS: IDTI) gained 3.46 percent.

Carmakers saw declines after Ford (NYSE: F) said its US sales dropped 30 percent in October, with sales of 132,838 cars and trucks during the month.

Ford was 0.05 percent lower in early afternoon trade while General Motors (NYSE: GM) had dropped 3.07 percent.

Story link: Miner KAZ leads gains on FTSE 100