BARC leads London banks after JPM report

European equities markets were higher Thursday as banks climbed on a positive report from JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) helped banks to gains.

The FTSE 100 added 2.13 percent to 4,052.98 in London, while at the same time the FTSE 250 was up 1.62 percent to 7,224.76.

Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) lead the sector higher in London with a gain of 7.72 percent, followed by Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) as it added 6.66 percent.

Insurer Prudential (LSE: PRU; NYSE: PUK) turned in the best performance of the session on the 100, gaining 8.61 percent while packaging distributor Bunzl (LSE: BNZL) had the worst day on the index as it dropped 9.99 percent.

While most miners were up, led by iron ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) with a gain of 9.78 percent on the 250, Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) was down 2.68 percent and Lonmin (LSE: LMI) dropped 4.18 percent, both on the 100.

The best performer of the day on the 250 was oil and gas explorer Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS), which gained 12 percent, while the worst performance of the day on the index came from platics group Filtrona (LSE: FLTR) as it dropped 5.47 percent.

Elsewhere in the region, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.63 percent to 801.02 while the Dax added 1.31 percent to 4,609.46, the CAC-40 was 1.76 percent higher to 3,038.18 and the IBEX gained 1.87 percent to 8,874.5.

Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) led gainers on the Dax as it added 6.05 percent and Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) was 4.33 percent higher, while Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) gained 2.98 percent on the CAC-40.

There were only four decliners on the CAC-40, led by drinks group Pernod Ricard (Euronext: RI) with a decline of 1.55 percent, while losers on the Dax were led by automaker Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) as it dropped 1.91 percent.

Asia-Pacific region markets were mixed again.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.14 percent to 8,755.26 but the Topix index fell 0.38 percent to 832.04 and the Mothers market was down 0.39 percent to 315.08.

The Nikkei lost most of its early gains, trading up to 9,030 in early trade, after new data showed that China’s economy grew by only 6.1 percent in the first quarter of the year, it’s slowest growth in seventeen years.

With China being a major trade partner for Japan, exporters were mostly lower on the session, but steel makers and shippers held on to slight gains despite the news from China.

South Korea’s Kospi added 0.27 percent to 1,336.72 while in Australia the S&P/ASX200 was up 0.75 percent to 3,775.7 and the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.86 percent to 3,725.6.

In Taiwan, the Taiex was 2.08 percent higher to 5.997.17.

Among decliners in the region, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.08 percent to 2,534.13, the Hang Seng fell 0.55 percent to 15,582.99, the Straits Times Index was 0.75 percent lower to 1,891.75 and the Sensex dropped 2.99 percent to 10,947.4.

Early afternoon trade found markets mixed on Wall Street as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.08 percent lower to 8,0213.48 but the S&P 500 had added 0.4 percent to 855.5 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.28 percent higher to 1,647.63.

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