VOD adds 7 percent in London

European equities markets were helped to gains by the news that pending sales of existing homes in the United States were up by 6.3 percent in December and by advances in the European telecommunications sector.

The FTSE 100 added 2.13 percent to 4,164.46 in London, while the FTSE 250 gained 1.3 percent to 6,130.77.

In the telecommunications sector, Vodafone (LSE: VOD; NYSE: VOD; FWB: VOD) added 7.02 percent in London.

Miners managed to take three of the top five spots on the 100 as Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (LSE: ENRC) was up 7.05 percent while Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) added 10.03 percent and Xstrata (LSE: XTA) gained 10.88 percent for the best performance on the day on that index, while Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) led all miners and the 250 as it added 12.32 percent.

On the other hand, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE: LSE) turned in the worst performance of the session on the 100 when it dropped 7.24 percent.

The Eurofirst 300 was up 1.84 percent to 791.61 while the IBEX added 1.56 percent to 8,361.9, the CAC-40 was 1.79 percent higher to 2,982.39 and the Dax gained 2.43 percent to 4,374.96.

The biggest gains on the Dax came for airline Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) as it added 7.4 percent, while Schneider Electric (Euronext: SU) had the best day on the CAC-40 with a gain of 5.47 percent.

Several in the telecommunications sector did well, led by Telecom Italia (BIT: TIT; NYSE: TI), which was up 7.33 percent while Deutsche Telekom (FWB: DTE; NYSE: DT; TYO: 9496) was 5.41 percent higher and France Telecom (Euronext: FTE; NYSE: FTE) added 4.24 percent.

Banks were mixed as Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) was up 3.76 percent and Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) gained 6.51 percent but BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) dropped 2.48 percent.

In London, most banks were higher but Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) was down 2.74 percent.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher as Australia and Japan both announced new measures aimed at reviving their economies.

Australia’s central bank cut interest rates by 1 percentage point to 3.25 percent and the government said it will spend A$42 billion ($26 billion) to prop up its economy, sending shares in banks and retailers higher.

Most of the money will go to grants to families and those with low incomes, and to infrastructure improvements.

The Sydney Ordinaries added 0.16 percent to 3,449.1 while the S&P/ASX200 was up 0.32 percent to 3,508.7.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan announced that it will spend ¥1 trillion ($11.1 billion) to purchase shares owned by financial institutions.

Japan’s announcement did not help its own markets, which declined on the session despite gains among shippers and in the semiconductors and real estate sectors.

The Nikkei 225 fell 0.62 percent to 7,825.51 while the Topix index was down 0.52 percent to 773.79 and the Mothers market dropped 0.01 percent to 335.58.

The declines came on disappointing earnings news in the pharmaceuticals and food sectors.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was also lower as it fell 0.66 percent to 12,776.89.

Elsewhere in the sector, the Straits Times Index was up 0.39 percent to 1,711.92, the Sensex added 0.91 percent to 9,149.3, the Kospi was 1.42 percent higher to 1,163.2, the Shanghai Composite gained 2.44 percent to 2,060.81 and the Taiex added 2.65 percent to 4,372.81.

Wall Street was mixed in early afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.48 percent and the S&P 500 had added 0.3 percent to 827.89 but the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.06 percent to 1,493.5.

Sales reports in the automobile manufacturing sector were disappointing as Ford (NYSE: F) said its US sales dropped 40 percent in January while Toyota’s (NYSE: TM; TYO: 7203; LSE: TYT) sales were down by 32 percent for the month.

Other carmakers, due to report later in the day, were also expected to say that sales fell in January.

At around 1:30 p.m. in New York General Motors (NYSE: GM) was down 6.57 percent and Ford had dropped 2.13 percent but Toyota’s New York traded shares had added 1.22 percent because despite declines in sales, it managed to outdo Ford’s sales.

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