BT Group adds 8 percent

European equities markets were mixed Tuesday, with London markets reflecting the varied results in the rest of Europe.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.06 percent to 4,328.57 while the FTSE 250 was 0.13 percent lower to 7,483.6.

Telecommunications-related shares were the top winners on both London indexes as BT Group (LSE: BT.A; NYSE: BT) added 8.01 percent on the 100 while multi-utility Telecom Plus (LSE: TEP), which includes home and mobile phones, was up 7.04 percent on the 250.

Most miners were lower on the session, with Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) down 2.45 percent as the top loser on the 100, while investment managers F&C Asset Management (LSE: FCAM) dropped 6.64 percent as it turned in the worst performance of the session on the 250.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.03 percent to 863.61 and the Dax added 0.02 percent to 4,890.72 while the CAC-40 fell 0.17 percent to 3,213.95 and the IBEX dropped 0.22 percent to 9.497.9.

Banks were lower as Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) fell 1.96 percent, BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) was down 2.26 percent, Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) was 2.7 percent lower and Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) dropped 3.34 percent as the biggest loser on the CAC-40.

Food processor Danone (Euronext: BN) had the best day on the CAC-40 with a gain of 1.92 percent while stock exchange operator Deutsche Boerse (FWB: DB1) led the Dax as it added 3.98 percent.

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Merck (FWB: MRK), which was the only winner on the Dax yesterday, was that index’s biggest decliner today as it dropped 4.19 percent.

European carmakers also saw declines.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower on the session.

The one major exception was India’s Sensex, which added 0.55 percent to 14,957.91.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 had its worst day since the end of March as it dropped 2.86 percent and fell back below the 10,000 level to close at 9,752.88, while the Topix index fell 3.39 percent to 914.76 and the Mothers market was down 1.82 percent to 425.19.

The declines came as the yen strengthened and investors were concerned that a report from the New York Federal Reserve that showed regional manufacturing activity contracting again meant that the economy will not recover as quickly as had been hoped.

Traders and the real estate sector were both lower, and carmakers slid along with other exporters as the yen strengthened.

The Taiex was down just 0.08 percent to 6,220.81 while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.48 percent to 2,776.02, the Kospi was 0.94 percent lower to 1,399.15 and the Straits Times Index dropped 1.23 percent to 2,288.16.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 was down 1.72 percent to 3,962.5 and the Sydney Ordinaries fell 1.8 percent to 3,957.9 while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng also dropped 1.8 percent to close at 18,165.5.

At just past 12:30 p.m. in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.38 percent lower to 8,579.64 while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.12 percent to 1,814.29 and the S&P 500 had dropped 0.35 percent to 920.48.

Wall Street was up earlier in the session on new data from the Commerce Department showing that home construction starts were up in May while at the same time more new building permits were also issued during the month.

However, there was discouraging news from the Federal Reserve, which said that factory production was 1.1 percent lower in May as consumers bought fewer cars and appliances.

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