INCH leads 250 with 20 percent gain

European equities markets saw gains Wednesday as banks and miners saw gains.

The FTSE 100 added 1.08 percent to 4,030.66 in London, while the FTSE 250 was up 2.47 percent to 7,159.96.

Most UK retailers saw gains, led on the 250 by auto retailer Inchcape (LSE: INCH), which added 19.67 percent for the best performance of the day in London, followed by video games retailer Game Group (LSE: GMG) with a gain of 12.8 percent and sporting goods retailer Sports Direct International (LSE: SPD), which was up 12.65 percent.

Over on the 100, DIY retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KFG) added 7.44 percent.

Property developers and investors had a good day as Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) led the 100 with a gain of 11.31 percent while British Land (LSE: BLND) was 8.52 percent higher on the session.

Most miners were higher on the session, led by iron ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) which was up 11.76 percent, but gold and silver miner Hochschild Mining turned in the worst performance on the 250 as it dropped 4.18 percent while platinum miner Lonmin (LSE: LMI; JSE: LOLMI) was down 2.44 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.85 percent to 794.25 while the CAC-40 was up 1.72 percent to 3,025.24, the Dax was 2.06 percent higher to 4,594.42 and the IBEX gained 2.53 percent to 8,834.1.

Builders and businesses related to construction did well on the CAC-40, led by construction materials group Lafarge (Euronext: LG; NYSE: LR), which added 12.3 percent while Bouygues (Euronext: EN), with interest in construction among other sectors, was up 8.01 percent and builder Vinci (Euronext: DG) gained 5.92 percent.

Luxury retailers didn’t do as well as PPR (Euronext: PP) fell 2.93 percent and LVMH (Euronext: MC) dropped 3.64 percent for the worst performance of the session on the CAC-40.

Banks were higher as Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) was up 9.6 percent to lead the Dax while Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) added 6.7 percent and Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) gained 5.45 percent.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed again.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.18 percent to 8,727.3 but the Topix index was down 0.09 percent to 829.96 and the Mothers market dropped 0.26 percent to 321.84.

There were gains in the electronics sector on the possibility that some companies might receive government aid, with chipmaker Elpida (TYO: 6665) adding 15 percent on reports that it would get $500 million from the government and on a plan to rise prices on its products.

Meanwhile, Pioneer (TYO: 6773) was up 17 percent on a report that it will also ask for government money to help it through the recession.

Banks were lower on worries that they might have to make new shares available in order to raise cash.

Other gainers in the region included the Taiex, which added 0.08 percent to 5,886.11 while the Kospi gained 1.44 percent to 1,356.02.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.16 percent to 3,627.2 and the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.25 percent to 3,668.2.

The Sensex was 0.74 percent lower to 10,817.54 while the Straits Times Index was down 0.74 percent, the Straits Times Index fell 2.32 percent to 1,843.41, the Hang Seng was 2.67 percent lower to 14,878.45 and the Shanghai Composite dropped 2.94 percent to 2,461.35.

Wall Street was mixed in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.19 percent lower to 7,954.51 but the S&P 500 had added 0.26 percent to 852.27 and the Nasdaq Composite had gained 1.05 percent to 1,661.18.

Story link: INCH leads 250 with 20 percent gain