BDEV leads homebuilders in London

Most European equities markets were higher Wednesday, but London’s markets ended slightly lower on the session even though property developers and house builders saw gains on both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250.

The 100 dropped 0.13 percent to 3,925.52 while the 250 ended 0.02 percent lower to 6,718.41.

Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) was up 8.46 percent on the 250, while Redrow (LSE: RDW) added 8.22 percent and Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) was 8.18 percent higher, while over on the 100 British Land (LSE: BLND) was up 7.24 percent, Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND) added 5.85 percent and Liberty International (LSE: LII) gained 5.57 percent.

Insurer Old Mutual (LSE: OML; JSE: OLOML) had the best day on the 100 as it added 7.76 percent while publisher Pearson (LSE: PSON; NYSE: PSO) dropped 4.87 percent for the worst performance on the index for the day.

Over on the 250 Pace (LSE: PIC), which develops set-top converter boxes for cable and satellites television reception, was by far the biggest winner as it soared 42.21 percent.

The energy sector was mostly lower, with Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE) down 2.86 percent while BG Group (LSE: BG; NYSE: BG) dropped 3.28 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.11 percent to 761.5 while the CAC-40 was up 0.65 percent to 2,921.06, the IBEX was 0.7 percent higher to 8,404.7 and the Dax gained 0.82 percent to 4,357.92.

Tire maker Michelin (Euronext: ML) added 8.84 percent for the best day on the CAC-40, while the automobile manufacturing sector was higher on both the 40 and the Dax.

Daimler (FWB: DAI; NYSE: DAI) turned in the best performance of the day on the Dax as it added 7.87 percent while Peugeot (Euronext: UG) was up 6.42 percent, BMW (FWB: BMW) was 6.17 percent higher and Renault (FWB: RNO) gained 5.6 percent.

Airlines saw gains as Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) added 5.08 percent and Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) gained 2.68 percent.

Steel maker Salzgitter (FWB: SZG) had the worst day on the Dax as it fell 3.16 percent while drinks group Pernod Ricard (Euronext: RI) turned in the worst performance of the session on the CAC-40 as it dropped 7.09 percent.

Most Asia-Pacific equities markets, on the other hand, were lower on the session.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 2.69 percent to 8,595.01 while the Topix index fell 2.08 percent and the Mothers market dropped 0.92 percent to 312.47.

Declines in Tokyo came after major companies issued disappointing full-year results.

Chemicals and electronics group Shin-Etsu (TYO: 4063) the biggest manufacturer of silicon wafers in the world, was down 5.4 percent after it reported lower profits than it had forecast for the year, while consumer electronics giant Sharp (TYO: 6753; LuxSE: SRP) dropped 6.1 percent after it said its net loss for the full year was 30 percent more than predicted.

Insurers, consumer finance groups and the real estate sector were all lower as well.

The Straits Times Index was down 1.02 percent to 1,783.96 while in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries fell 2.22 percent to 3,567.5 and the S&P/ASX200 dropped 2.34 percent to 3,619.5.

Taiwan’s Taiex fell 2.39 percent to 6,443.56, the Kospi was down 2.93 percent to 1,262.07, the Hang Seng was 3.04 percent lower to 14,474.86 and the Shanghai Composite dropped 3.76 percent to 2,347.38.

The Sensex added 1.97 percent to 10,742.34 in India.

New York equities markets were higher in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.87 percent to 7,857.5, the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.74 percent to 1,588.84 and the S&P 500 was 1.22 percent highr to 825.49.

The gains came after it was announced that Centex Corp. (NYSE: CTX) and Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) will merge to create the largest home builder in the United States.

The sector was mixed on the news as Centex added 18.37 percent but Pulte dropped 11.61 percent at just before 2 p.m. in New York.

Insurers were also higher after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama Administration could soon extend bailout funds to the sector.

Afternoon trade saw Prudential (NYSE: PRU) up 4.75 percent while MetLife (NYSE: MET) had added 2.03 percent.

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