Miners RIO, TALV top losers on 100, 250

European equities markets end the session in negative territory Tuesday as banks fell on reports that bank regulators have told Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) that they need to raise more cash., on declines among miners as prices for base metals fell, and on continuing concerns about the outbreak of swine flu.

In London the FTSE 100 was 1.69 percent lower to 4,096.4 while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.71 percent to 7,155.18.

Most miners were lower as Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) had the worst day on the 100 with a decline of 6.25 percent and nickel miner Talvivaara Mining Company (LSE: TALV) turned in the worst performance on the 250 as it dropped 14.07 percent, but Mexico-based gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) topped the winners list on the 100 with a gain of 3.4 percent.

Banks were lower in London, with Lloyds Banking Group seeing the biggest decline of the day as it fell 4.88 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.45 percent to 801.91 while the IBEX fell 1.38 percent to 8,656.3, the CAC-40 was 1.66 percent lower to 3,051.02 and the Dax dropped 1.85 percent to 4,607.42.

Carmakers were lower on the session as BMW (FWB: BMW) fell 4.43 percent, Peugeot (Euronext: UG) was down 5.19 percent and Renault (Euronext: RNO) dropped 5.21 percent.

Conglomerate Bouygues (Euronext: EN), with interest ins construction, broadcasting, and real estate, was the biggest decliner on the CAC-40 as it fell 5.75 percent, while Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK) was the biggest loser on the Dax as it dropped 6.91 percent.

Among winners, Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: ALU; NYSE: ALU; TYO: 6687) topped gainers on the CAC-40 as it added 2.4 percent while personal care products manufacturer Beiersdorf (FWB: BEI) turned in the best performance on the Dax with a gain of 2.79 percent.

Markets were lower in the Asia-Pacific region, at least partly on fears that swine flu will continue to spread, but also on the report concerning Citigroup and Bank of America.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was 2.67 percent lower to 8,493.77 while the Topix index fell 2.53 percent to 811.99 and the Mothers market dropped 2.88 percent to 342.11.

Despite the declines, Chugai Pharmaceutical (TYO: 4519) added another 1.9 percent on sales of Tamiflu, which is one of the drugs that has appeared to be effective in treating swine flu.

Manufacturers of medical masks saw major gains as Daiwabo (TYO: 3107) was up 27.7 percent and Fujibo Holdings (TYO: 3104) gained 33.3 percent on the session.

In the electronics sector, however, TV manufacturer Sharp (TYO: 6753; LuxSE: SRP) was down 8.8 percent after it said Monday that it had seen losses for a second consecutive quarter.

The Shanghai Composite was 0.16 percent lower to 2,401.44 while in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.5 percent to 3,671.7 and the S&P/ASX200 dropped 0.62 percent to 3,708.4.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index was down 0.56 percent to 1,808.41 while Taiwan’s Taiex fell 1.9 percent to 5,596.73, the Hang Seng was 1.92 percent lower to 14,555.11, the Kospi was down 2.95 percent to 1,300.24 and the Sensex dropped 3.25 percent to 11,001.75.

In early afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.13 percent to 8,035.75 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.28 percent to 1,684.07 and the S&P 500 was 0.1 percent higher to 858.34.

Helping gains was a report from the Conference Board that its Consumer Confidence Index was at 39.2 in April, up from 26.9 in March and almost 10 points higher than had been expected.

Also helping overcome worries about how the swine flu outbreak might affect the economy was an announcement from IBM (NYSE: IBM) that its board has approved a stock buyback and voted to up its dividend by 10 percent.

At almost 1:30 in New York, IBM’s shares were up 1.75 percent.

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