LLOY gains as other UK banks decline

European equities markets were mixed Monday.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 0.33 percent to 3,542.4 but the FTSE 250 was 1.06 percent lower to 5,769.79.

Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) added 4.05 percent on the news that the UK government has taken a majority interest in the bank and guaranteed billions of dollars in risky assets, but other UK banks saw declines.

Insurer Aviva (LSE: AV) turned in the best performance on the 100 as it gained 8.39 percent but Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) dropped 7.26 percent on the session.

The worst performers on the 100 were in the property sector, where British Land (LSE: BLND) was down 9.81 percent and Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND) dropped 10.01 percent for the worst day on the index.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.64 percent to 657.86 while the Paris CAC-40 fell 0.6 percent to 3,519.29 and the IBEX dropped 1.72 percent to 6,817.4 in Madrid.

Banks were mostly higher on the continent and Deutsche Postbank (FWB: DPB) added 10.33 percent for the best performance of the day on the Dax, but Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) was down 4.26 percent in Paris.

Airlines were mixed as Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) added 1.29 percent but Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) was down 1.5 percent.

Insurer Axa (Euronext: CS; NYSE: AXA) has the worst day on the CAC-40 with a decline of 5.65 percent.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed as well.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index both closed at their lowest in at least a quarter century.

The Nikkei was down 1.21 percent to 7,086.03, its lowest close in 26 years, while the Topix index ended 1.51 percent lower to 710.53, its worst close is 25 years.

At the same time, the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 1.19 percent to 280.49.

In the pharmaceutical sector, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502) was 13.1 percent lower after the US said it could not approve a new drug developed by the company until it receives more data.

Other decliners in the sector included the Taiex, which was down 0.55 percent to 4,628.24 while the Sensex dropped 1.99 percent to 8,160.4, the Shanghai Composite fell 3.39 percent to 2,118.75, the Straits Times Index was 3.71 percent lower to 1,456.95 and the Hang Seng dropped 4.84 percent to 11,344.58.

In Australia, on the other hand, the S&P/ASX200 added 0.29 percent to 3,154.5 and the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.32 percent to 3,121.7, while the Kospi was 1.58 percent higher to 1,071.73 in South Korea.

At nearly 2 p.m. in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.55 percent to 6,590.46 while the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 1.05 percent to 1,280.24 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.22 percent to 681.9.

Technology stocks were lower after Google (NAS: GOOG) dropped 3.89 percent.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) down 2.03 percent and Yahoo (NAS: YHOO) falling 0.46 percent.

Office supply retailers were also lower after UBS cut target share prices in the sector and ahead of a scheduled report from Staples (NYSE: SPLS), which was down 0.95 percent while Office Max (NYSE: OMX) dropped 1.92 percent and Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) was 6.13 percent lower on analyst predictions that more of its locations will close soon.

Story link: LLOY gains as other UK banks decline