Equities see gains in first trade of 2009

European equities markets were higher Friday to start trade for 2009, helped by gains in the mining sector.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 2.88 percent to 4,561.79 and the FTSE 250 gained 4.19 percent to 6,627.17 as miners led winners on both indices.

Aquarius Platinum (LSE: AQP; ASX: AQP; JSE: AQP) led all miners traded in London with a gain of 20.2 percent while the biggest winner on the 100 was Xstrata (LSE: XTA), which gained 16.8 percent on the session, followed by Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO; NYSE: RTP) with a gain of 13.69 percent.

Banks, retailers and the oil sector also saw gains in London, while the real estate sector was up despite the news that home mortgage approvals were lower again.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 2.62 percent to 853.74 while the IBEX was up 3.16 percent to 9,486.3, the Dax gained 3.39 percent to 4,973.07 and the CAC-40 was 4.09 percent higher to 3,349.69.

The only loser on the CAC-40 was in the utilities sector, where GDF Suez (Euronext: GSZ, GSZB) dropped just 0.01 percent, while the biggest gainer there was in the banking sector as Dexia (Euronext: DX) added 10.72 percent.

Europe’s steel sector also saw gains as ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) added 5.54 percent on the Dax and ArcelorMittal (Euronext: MT; NYSE: MT; BMAD: MTS; LuxSE: MT) gained 9.88 percent on the CAC-40).

With several major Asian equities exchanges still closed for the holidays, most of those which were open for business in the region saw gains Friday on hopes that government initiatives will ease the effects of the global recession.

While Australian markets declined as the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.1 percent to 3,655.7 and the S&P/ASX200 fell 0.23 percent to 3,713.8, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng saw its biggest first trading day of the year since 1970 as it gained 4.55 percent to 15,042.81 and India’s Sensex hit a 2-week high with a gain of 0.55 percent to 9,958.22 in anticipation of the expected announcement of the second stimulus package there in a month.

The oil sector and telecommunications companies led the way in Hong Kong.

Cnooc (SEHK: 0883; NYSE: CEO) added 4.8 percent and PetroChina (SEHK: 0857; SSE: 601857; NYSE: PTR) was up 6 percent on a gain in oil prices on the last day of 2008, while China Mobile (SEHK: 0941; NYSE: CHL) was 4.4 percent higher and China Telecom (SEHK: 0728; NYSE: CHA) gained 6.2 percent after the Chinese government said it will soon issue licenses for high-speed wireless services.

Elsewhere in the region, South Korea’s Kospi was up 2.93 percent to 1,157.4 and the Straits Times Index gained 3.87 percent to 1,829.71 while markets in Tokyo, China and Taiwan remained closed.

Wall Street was up in early afternoon trade despite bleak news on manufacturing, as the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index came in at 32.4 in December, its lowest in 28 years.

The ISM report also showed that new factor orders were at their lowest level since records began 60 years ago.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.84 to 8,938.08 in early afternoon trade while the Nasdaq Composite had added 2.16 percent to 1,611.08 and the S&P 500 was 1.88 percent higher to 920.22.

Most components in the pharmaceutical sector were higher at midday, but Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) was down 0.4 percent.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) was up 1.3 percent, Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) had added 2 percent and Pfizer had gained 2.6 percent by noon.

The oil sector was also higher as oil prices saw gains, with ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) adding 0.9 percent at midday while Chevron (NSYE: CVX) was up 2.4 percent.

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