SGRO leads FTSE 250 higher

European equities markets were higher Monday on gains in banks and other members of the financial sector after the United States detailed plans for a public/private effort, the Public-Private Investment Program, to buy up troubled assets from banks.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 2.86 percent to 3,952.81 while the FTSE 250 gained 1.89 percent to 6,391.21.

Real estate investment trust SEGRO (LSE: SGRO) turned in the best performance of the day on the 250 with a gain of 24.17 percent, while consumer finance company Cattles (LSE: CTT) had the best day overall in London as it added 44.5 percent.

Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) led banks higher on the 100 while insurer Old Mutual (LSE: OML; JSE: OLOML) had the best day on the 100 as it added 17.12 percent on the session.

Utilities were lower on the session as National Grid (LSE: NG) dropped 1.55 percent and Centrica (LSE: CAN) dropped 2.02 percent, while travel company Thomas Cook (LSE: TCG) had the worst day on the 100 with a decline of 2.42 percent.

Elsewhere, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 3.05 percent to end the session at 739.77, its best close in a month, while the Dax was up 2.65 percent to 4,176.37, the CAC-40 was 2.81 percent higher to 3,869.57 and the IBEX gained 3.14 percent to 7,952.3.

Banks topped the CAC-40 as BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) added 9 percent and Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) was up 8.74 percent, while Commerzbank led German banks on the Dax with a gain of 9.45 percent.

Chipmaker Infineon (FWB: IFX; NYSE: IFX) was the biggest gainer on the Dax as it added 16.06 percent, while software group SAP (FWB: SAP) was the only loser on the index as it dropped 0.77 percent.

Out of only 5 decliners on the CAC-40, luxury retailer PPR (Euronext: PP) turned in the worst performance as it fell 2.85 percent while elsewhere in the sector LVMH (Euronext: MC) dropped 0.43 percent.

Markets also saw gains in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Nikkei 225 added 3.39 percent to 8,215.53 in Tokyo, seeing its highest close in almost two months, while the Topix index was up 3.5 percent to 791.56 and the Mothers market gained 0.99 percent to 293.7.

Banks jumped after Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306; NYSE: MTU) said it will close 50 branches and eliminate 1,000 positions in an effort to streamline operations.

Mitsubishi was up 4.7 percent while Mizuho Financial Group (TYO: 8411; NYSE: MFG) added 5.3 percent and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (TYO: 8316) gained 7.3 percent.

Exporters were up as the yen weakened on more appetite for risky investments.

The Shanghai Composite added 3.28 percent to 5,124.18 while in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries gained 2.29 percent to 3,483.1 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 3,440.3.

South Korea’s Kospi also added 2.44 percent, to 1,199.5 while the Taiex was up 3.28 percent to 5,124.18, the Straits Times Index was 4.21 percent higher to 1,664.08, the Hang Seng added 4.78 percent to 13,447.42 and the Sensex gained 5.1 percent to 9,424.02.

At just past 2 p.m. in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.95 percent to 7,565.83 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 3.67 percent to 1,510,72 and the S&P 500 had gained 4.04 percent to 378.07.

Besides being helped by hopes for the new plan form the US Treasury Department to buy up toxic bank assets, markets were also helped by new data from the National Association of Realtors which showed that existing home sales were up by 5.1 percent in February from January.

However, the median price for a home in the US was down 15.5 percent from the same time last year.

Story link: SGRO leads FTSE 250 higher