ISYS leads FTSE 100 with 13 percent gain

Most European equities markets were higher Thursday as banks and most miners saw gains.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.72 percent to 4,362.58 while the FTSE 250 added 0.78 percent to 7,428.77.

Engineering group Invensys (LSE: ISYS) had the best day on the 100 with a gain of 13.25 percent, while travel specialist Thomas Cook Group (LSE: TCG) turned in the worst performance on the index as it dropped 7.31 percent.

Banks were led higher by Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN), which added 8.13 percent, while most miners were also up with gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) leading the way with a gain of 11.68 percent.

In the telecommunications sector, BT Group (LSE: BT.A; NYSE: BT) dropped 6.36 percent while Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT), which provides telecommunications satellites, was down 5.89 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.45 percent to 835.46 while the CAC-40 added 0.11 percent to 3,156.29 and the Dax gained 0.23 percent to 4,738.47 but the IBEX was 0.18 percent lower to 8,984.2.

Banks were mixed on the continent, where BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) was up 2.5 percent but Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) fell 0.34 percetn, Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) was down 0.4 percent, and Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) dropped 3.2 percent.

Carmakers were higher on the session, led by Peugeot (Euronext: UG) with a gain of 5.27 percent, but airlines saw declines.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower on the session.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 2.64 percent to 9,093.73 while the Topix index fell 2.94 percent to 862.66 and the Mothers market dropped 1.29 percent to 352.17.

Exporters saw declines on concerns that the US economy might be slower to recover than had been hoped and on more forecasts of losses.

In the semiconductors sector, NEC Electronics (TYO: 6723) was down 10.8 percent after being dropped from a key stock index, while consumer electronics group Panasonic (TYO: 6752) fell 4.4 percent on a media report that it could see a $1.1 billion loss for the full year.

Camera manufacturer Nikon (TYO: 7731) dropped 8.4 percent after it predicted its first full-year operating loss in over a decade.

Elsewhere in the region, the Shanghai Composite was 0.9 percent lower to 2,639.89 while the Sensex was down 1.22 percent to 11,872.91, the Taiex fell 1.87 percent to 6,364.17, the Kospi dropped 2.37 percent to 1,380.95, the Straits Times Index was down 2.89 percent to 2,122.11 and the Hang Seng was 3.04 percent lower to 16,541.69.

The region’s biggest declines came in Australian markets, where the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 3.43 percent to 3,710.8 and the S&P/ASX200 fell 3.44 percent to 3,723.4.

In midday trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.87 percent to 8,356.81 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 1.73 percent to 1,693.01 and the S&P 500 had gained 1.27 percent to 895.12.

Story link: ISYS leads FTSE 100 with 13 percent gain