LLOY gains almost 9 percent in London

European equities markets were mostly lower Thursday, but London markets were mixed on the session as the FTSE 100 dropped 0.19 percent to 4,052.23 but the FTSE 250 added 0.12 percent to 6,167.13.

For a second day in a row, banks took the top spot in both the winners’ and losers’ columns on the 100 as Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) added 8.87 percent but Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) dropped 10.44 percent after losing over 9 percent yesterday.

Insurers were also mixed on the 100, with Friends Provident (LSE: FP) up 4.21 percent as Aviva (LSE: AV) was down 5.03 percent.

Over on the 250, the two biggest winners were both pubs operators as Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) added 18.9 percent and Punch Taverns (LSE: PUB) gained 21.71 percent, while directories publisher Yell Group (LSE: YELL) put in the worst performance on the 250 as it dropped 13.3 percent on the session.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.83 percent lower to 762.79 while the IBEX fell 0.87 percent to 8,159.3, the Dax was down 0.98 percent to 4,219.42 and the CAC-40 dropped 1.24 percent to 2,869.62.

Banks were mixed in the wider European region just as they were in London.

Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) was up 0.97 percent, Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) added 1.92 percent, Dexia (Euronext: DX) was 3.56 percent higher and Societie Generale (Euronext: GLE) gained 6.72 for the best performance of the session on the CAC-40, but BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) dropped 3.11 percent.

Chipmaker Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) had the worst day on the Dax as it dropped 4.67 percent while STMicroelectronics (Euronext: STM; NYSE: STM) dropped 4.09 percent on the CAC-40.

Most carmakers saw declines as BMW (FWB: BMW) fell 2.51 percent, Peugeot (Euronext: UG) was down 7.16 percent and Renault (Euronext: RNO) dropped 7.32 percent but truck manufacturer Man (FWB: EDF1) was up 0.46 percent.

Asia-Pacific region equities markets saw gains on the session.

In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 was up 1.9 percent to 8,051.74 while the Topix index added 1.11 percent to 795.91 and the Mothers market gained 0.95 percent to 327.7.

The gains in Tokyo came after the Bank of Japan said it will purchase bonds issued by real estate investment trusts (REITs) as collateral, and even though new data showed that Japanese exports fell 35 percent in December compared to the same month a year earlier at a time when exporters are being hurt by a strengthening yen.

REITs saw gains on the announcement by the Bank of Japan, as were real estate developers.

Mitsui Fudosan (TYO: 8801) was up 4.9 percent while Mitsubishi Estate (TYO: 8802) gained 5.4 percent.

Banks and the pharmaceutical sector were also higher in Tokyo, but carmakers and the electronics sector saw declines.

Elsewhere in the region the Straits Times Index was up 0.25 percent to 1,708.77, the Sensex added 0.39 percent to 8,813.84, the Hang Seng was 0.59 percent to 12,657.99, the Shanghai Composite gained 1 percent to 2,004.95 and the Kospi was up 1.14 percent to 1,116.23.

In Australia the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.09 percent to 3,431.9 while the S&P/ASX200 gained 1.28 percent to 3,486.8.

In afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.45 percent to 8,026.59 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.17 percent to 1,459.29 and the S&P 500 was 2.46 percent lower to 819.53.

Microsoft’s (NAS: MSFT) shares dropped 10.37 percent after it reported an 11 percent drop in profits and announced that it will eliminate 5,000 jobs over the next year and a half.

The oil sector declined on US inventories that grew more than anticipated last week.

The US Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil inventories grew by 6.1 million barrels in the week ending last Friday, much more of an advance than the 1.9 million barrel increase that had been anticipated, while gasoline stockpiles were up by 6.5 million barrels, sending oil prices lower.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) was down 1.9 percent just before 2 p.m. in New York while ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) fell 1.99 percent, ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was down 2.13 percent and Occidental Petroleum dropped 2.63 percent.

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