Miner Lonmin leads 100 with 8 percent gain

Most equities markets in Europe were higher Wednesday after miners gained on higher metals prices, outpacing declines in the banking sector.

In London the FTSE 250 added 0.46 percent to 7,734.01 but the FTSE 100 dropped 0.31 percent to 4,468.41on declines for banks.

Miners claimed the top five spots on the gainers list on the 100, led by Lonmin (LSE: LMI) with a gain of 8.11 percent and followed by Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED), which added 7.02 percent as Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) was up 5.77 percent, Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) was 4.71 percent higher and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) gained 4.34 percent.

Over on the 250, retailer Debenhams (LSE: DEB) made the best gain in the sector as it added 6.74 percent, but DSG International (LSE: DSGI) turned in both the worst performance on the 250 and in the sector as it dropped 9.91 percent.

Meanwhile, retailers were three of the top five losers on the 100, with Home Retail Group (LSE: HOME) down 4.27 percent as grocer J. Sainsbury (LSE: SBRY) was 4.84 percent lower and clothing retailer Marks & Spencer (LSE: MKS) dropped 5.69 percent.

Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY), with its decline of 7.99 percent, saw the biggest drop in the 100 and in the banking sector.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.31 percent higher to 874.79 while the IBEX added 0.51 percent to 9,389.4, the CAC-40 was up 0.87 percent to 3,303.37 and the Dax gained 1.6 percent to 5,038.94.

Airlines were higher as Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) turned in the best performance on the CAC-40, adding 11.44 percent, while Lufthansa (FWB: LHA) gained 3.89 percent.

Banks were lower as BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) fell 4.95 percent and Commerzbznk (FWB: CBK) dropped 1.02 percent.

Carmakers and utilities both saw gains on the CAC-40, while luxury retailers PPR (Euronext: PP) and LVMH (Euronext: MC) dropped 0.22 percent and 1.73 percent respectively.

Hotels operator Accor (Euronext: AC) was the worst performer of the day on the CAC-40 with a decline of 7.04 percent.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.59 percent to 9,344.64 and the Topix index added 0.74 percent to 886.3 but the Mothers market was 0.2 percent lower to 350.73.

Traders saw gains after an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” for Mitsubishi Corp (TYO: 8058) from Goldman Sachs sent Mitsubishi’s shares up 5 percent, with Mitsui & Company (TYO: 8031) adding 5.9 percent.

Shippers were also higher after rates increased, with Mitsui OSK Lines (TYO: 9104) up 2.1 percent and Kawasaki Kisen (TYO: 9107) adding 4.7 percent.

Exporters, however, were lower as the yen strengthened.

Other gainers in the region included Australia’s markets, where the S&P/ASX200 was up 0.19 percent to 3,824.6 and the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.22 percent to 3,808.9.

The Straits Times Index added 0.39 percent to 2,269.24, South Korea’s Kospi was up 0.52 percent to 1,439.7 and the Taiex gained 0.72 percent to 6,703.62 in Taiwan.

On the other hand, the Hang Seng was 0.39 percent lower to 17,475.84 while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.94 percent to 2,651.41 and the Sensex dropped 1.69 percent to 14,060.66.

In midday trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.27 percent higher to 8,497.47 while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.81 percent to 1,748.56 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.57 percent to 913.31.

Story link: Miner Lonmin leads 100 with 8 percent gain