LGEN, PRU, AV up amid losses for insurers

European equities markets were higher Thursday after the US Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will buy Treasury bonds, sending banks and commodities shares up on renewed optimism that the economy will recover soon.

The FTSE 100 added 0.31 percent to 3,816.93 in London, while the FTSE 250 gained 1.13 percent to 6,261.62.

Most insurers were lower on the session, but Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) led gainers on the 100 as it added 22.12 percent, followed by Prudential (LSE: PRU; NYSE: PUK) with a gain of 13.41 percent and Aviva (LSE: AV), which was up 10.82 percent.

Friends Provident ( LSE: FP), however, was down 5.34 percent after Citigroup (NYSE: C) cut its recommendation on the insurer from “buy” to “hold”, while special risks insurer Beazley Group dropped 11.62 percent on the 250.

Banks were up, led by Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642), while miners were led higher by Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) with a gain of 16.17 percent.

Property developer Brixton (LSE: BXTN) turned in the best performance on the 250 as it added 29.41 percent.

The pharmaceuticals sector saw declines as Shire (LSE: SHP; NAS: SHPGY) was down 5.42 percent for the worst performance on the 100 and AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN; NSYE: AZN) dropped 4.97 percent.

Elsewhere, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.61 percent to 715.27 while the IBEX added 0.52 percent to 7,701.6, the CAC-40 was 0.6 percent higher to 2,776.99 and the Dax gained 1.18 percent to 4,043.46.

Insurers were higher as Allianz (FWB: ALV; NYSE: AZ) added 6.31 percent and Axa (Euronext: CS; NYSE: AXA) gained 12.64 percent for the best day on the CAC-40.

Chipmaker Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) was the best performer on the Dax as it was up 10.48 percent but rival STMicroelectronics (Eurofirst: STM; NYSE: STM) dropped 1.82 percent on the session.

Steelmaker ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) was the biggest decliner on the Dax as it dropped 5.39 percent.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed on the session.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was 0.33 percent lower to 7,945.96 but the Topix index added 0.01 percent to 764.77 and the Mothers market gained 1.2 percent to 290.81.

The declines for the Nikkei came on a stronger yen that hurt exporters and on profit-taking by investors ahead of a three-day weekend in Japan, but banks managed gains.

Honda (TYO: 7267; NYSE: HMC) was down 3 percent while among electronics stocks Casio Computer (TYO: 6952) dropped 13.5 percent after it predicted a full-year loss and Advantest (TYO: 6857; NYSE: ATE) fell 2.6 percent.

Bucking the trend in the electronics sector, Toshiba (TYO: 6502; LSE: TOS) added 1.2 percent on the news that it has chosen a new chief executive.

USJ (TYO: 2142), which operates Universal Studios Japan, was untraded on an overabundance of buy orders at 9.8 percent higher than the previous session’s close on reports that it will probably go private.

Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.23 percent lower to 5,035.93 while the Kospi dropped 0.7 percent to 1,161.81 in South Korea.

Gainers on the session included the Hang Seng with a gain of 0.1 percent to 13,130.92 while the Sensex added 0.28 percent to 9,001.75 and the Straits Times Index was up 0.57 percent to 1,584.86.

In Australia the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.9 percent to 3,416.8 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 0.98 percent to 3,480.2 while in China the Shanghai Composite gained 1.89 percent to 2,265.76.

In afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.52 percent lower to 7,447.63 while the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 0.05 percent to 1,490.49 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.37 percent to 791.39.

Banks were down on profit-taking and on a proposal from Citigroup (NSYE: C) which would result in the government taking a 36 percent share of the bank, sending it down 2.92 percent in afternoon trade after falling as much as 7 percent in earlier trade.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) was down 5.46 at the same time.

There were also declines in the pharmaceuticals sector on slower growth, with Merck (NYSE: MRK) down 3.15 percent while Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dropped 3.72 percent in afternoon trade.

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