LLOY up 2.3 percent on losing day for banks, markets

European equities markets were lower Monday, with individual gainers difficult to come by on the main indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt.

The FTSE 100 was 2.61 percent lower to 4,326.01 in London, while the FTSE 250 fell 2.57 percent to 7,493.52.

There were only three gainers on the 100, led by Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) with a gain of 2.3 percent, while drug maker AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN; NYSE: AZN) was up 0.8 percent and auto insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) added 0.77 percent.

The five biggest losers on the 100 were all in the mining sector, with Lonmin (LSE: LMI) seeing the biggest decline on the index and in the sector as it fell 9.78 percent.

Over on the 250, meanwhile, the biggest gainer by far was oil and gas explorer Heritage Oil (LSE: HOIL; TSX: HOC) with a gain of 8.01 percent, while pubs operator Enterprise Inns (LSE: ETI) led decliners on the index with a drop of 12.67 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 2.44 percent to 864.16 while the IBEX fell 2.01 percent to 9,518.7, the CAC-40 was 3.2 percent lower to 3,219.58 and the Dax dropped 3.54 percent to 4,889.94.

There were no winners on the CAC-40 while over on the Dax the only gainer on the session was chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Merck (FWB: MRK), known as EMD Chemicals in the United States and Canada, which added a bare 0.03 percent.

Carmakers led decliners on the Dax as Daimler (FWB: DAI; NYSE: DAI) fell 6.51 percent while on the CAC-40 Renault (Euronext: RNO) was down 5.4 percent and Peugeot (Euronext: UG) dropped 5.32 percent.

The biggest loser on the CAC-40 was in the semiconductors sector as STMicroelectronics (Euronext: STM; NYSE: STM) fell 6.34 percent.

Banks were lower in Germany as Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) was down 5.83 percent and Commerzbznk (FWB: DBK) dropped 6.42 percent.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower as well.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was 0.95 percent lower to 10,039.67 while the Topix index dropped 0.39 percent to 946.82, but the Mothers market added 2.88 percent to 433.07.

The real estate sector was higher on an upgrade of the sector by Daiwa Institute of Research from “underweight” to “neutral” on gains in confidence and improving credit markets.

Mitsui Fudosan (TYO: 8801) was up 3.2 percent while Tokyu Land (TYO: 8815) added 5.7 percent and Sumitomo Realty & Development (TYO: 8830) gained 6.8 percent.

Shares related to the semiconductor sector, however, were lower after US company National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) issued an outlook that disappointed in comparison to that of peer Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN).

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest (TYO: 6857; NYSE: ATE) was down 4.6 percent while Tokyo Electron (TYO: 8035) dropped 5.4 percent.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.75 percent to 4,031.7 and the Sydney Ordinaries fell 0.77 percent to 4,030.4.

The Kospi was 1.13 percent lower to 1,412.42, the Hang Seng fell 2.07 percent to 18,498.96, the Sensex was down 2.38 percent to 14,875.52, the Straits Times Index was 2.55 percent lower to 2,316.56 and the Taiex dropped 6,225.56.

The Shanghai Composite added 1.67 percent to 2,789.55.

Wall Street was lower in midday trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.11 percent to 8,613.19 while at the same time the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.6 percent to 1,810.45 and the S&P 500 had dropped 2.4 percent to 923.54.

The declines came on lower commodities prices and as the New York Federal Reserve’s manufacturing index showed further contraction in factory activity in the region.

Additionally, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) was lower, dropping 2.89 percent at just before 1 p.m. in New York, after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) reduced its recommendation on the discount retailer from “buy” to “neutral”.

Story link: LLOY up 2.3 percent on losing day for banks, markets