LLOY gains, PRU leads 100

European equities markets saw substantial gains Tuesday as banks raced higher on reports that a memo issued by the head of Citigroup (NYSE: C) said that the bank is having its best quarter since 2007.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 4.88 percent to 3,715.23 while the FTSE 250 was up 3.21 percent to 5,954.8.

London’s banks were led higher by Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY), which added 16.25 percent, but insurers did even better as Prudential (LSE: PRU; NYSE: PUK) added 21.01 percent as the best performer on the 100 during the session, followed by Friends Provident (LSE: FP) with a gain of 20.62 percent while Standard Life (LSE: SLET) was 19.8 percent higher.

There were only two losers on the 100 as aerospace and defense contractor BAE Systems (LSE: BA) dropped 0.07 percent and Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) was 8.14 percent lower.

While Randgold saw declines, other miners were higher as Lonmin (LSE: LMI) was up 12.8 percent and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) added 14.45 percent.

Over on the 250, financial services group IG Group (LSE: IGG) dropped 30.3 percent for the worst performance on the index, while developer Brixton (LSE: BXTN) was down 15.49 percent on more bad news on home sales in the UK and consumer lender Cattles (LSE: CTT) fell 13.88 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 4.97 percent to 689.94 while the IBEX added 4.93 percent to 7,153.3, the Dax was 5.28 percent higher to 3,886.98 and the CAC-40 gained 5.73 percent to 2,663.68.

There were no losers on the CAC-40 and only three on the Dax, with Fresenius Medical Care (FWB: FREG) down 6.16 percent for the worst performance on the Frankfurt index.

Banks led both the CAC-40 and the Dax as BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) added 20.72 percent in Paris and Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) gained 16.46 percent in Frankfurt.

Carmakers saw gains as Daimler (FWB: DAI; NYSE: DAI) was up 12.72 percent and Renault (Euronext: RNO) added 14.18 percent.

Insurer Axa (Euronext: CS; NYSE: AXA) had the second-best day on the CAC-40, adding 19.99 percent on the session.

Most Asia-Pacific markets also saw gains, but both the Nikkei 225 and the Topix index dropped to new multi-decade lows in Tokyo.

The Nikkei was 0.44 percent lower to 7,054.98, a new 26-year closing low, while the Topix was down 0.99 percent to 703.5, its lowest close in 25 years.

Meanwhile, the Mothers market fell 0.26 percent to 279.77.

Despite the declines, banks and brokers were higher as Sumitomo Mitsui (TYO: 8316) was up 1.7 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) added 3.7 percent while broker Nomura Holdings (TYO: 8604; NYSE: NMR; SGX: N33) was up 0.5 percent.

In the pharmaceuticals sector, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4502) was down again as it lost 3.92 percent on concerns that it could take years for a diabetes drug to be approved for sale in the United States, while Astellas Pharma (TYO: 4503) was down 5.3 percent and Chugai Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4519) dropped 5.9 percent.

Besides the issue surrounding US approval of the Takeda drug, the sector was also hurt by the news that Merck (NYSE: MRK) will buy Schering-Plough (NSE: SGP).

Besides the declines in Tokyo, the Sensex was down 1.99 percent to 8,160.4 in India.

There were gains elsewhere, including in Australia, where the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.69 percent to 3,143.2 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 0.95 percent to 3,184.5.

The Taiex gained 0.92 percent to 4,671.02 in Taiwan, while the Shanghai Composite was up 1.88 percent to 2,158.57, the Kospi was 1.91 percent higher to 1,092.2, the Straits Times Index added 1.98 percent to 1,485.75 and the Hang Seng gained 3.08 percent in 11,694.05 in Hong Kong.

New York equities markets were also up substantially in afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 4.66 percent to 6,852.26 at just past 2 p.m. while at the same time the Nasdaq Composite was 5.98 percent to 1,344.52 and the S&P 500 had added 5.42 percent to 713.22.

The financial services sector was up on the report that Citigroup (NYSE: C) saw profits in the first two months of the year.

Among banks, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) was up 13.44 percent while Bank of America had added 25.33 percent and Citigroup had gained 36.19 percent.

Credit card issuers and insurers also saw gains.

Story link: LLOY gains, PRU leads 100