DNX up, MRS down in mixed London oil sector

Europe’s equities markets saw declines Tuesday as the banking sector and miners lost ground and the oil sector was mixed in London.

The FTSE 100 was 1.04 percent lower to 4,249.21 while the FTSE 250 fell 0.84 percent to 7,414.56 in London.

In the oil sector, oil and gas explorer Dana Petroleum (LSE: DNX) added 2.34 percent on the 250 to lead gainers in the sector, but decliners outnumbered gainers and were led by Melrose Resources (LSE: MRS) as it dropped 6.47 percent.

Miners were lower as Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) dropped 3.14 percent to lead decliners on the 100 and Anglo American (LSE: AAL) dropped 2.73 percent.

Plumbing and building materials group Wolseley (LSE: WOS) led gainers on the 100 as it added 2.84 percent, followed by travel agent Thomas Cook Group (LSE: TCG) with a gain of 2.8 percent.

Banks were lower in London with the exception of Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642), which added 1.2 percent.

Elsewhere in the region, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.1 percent to 850.17 while the IBEX fell 0.59 percent to 9.787.8, the Dax was 1.56 percent lower to 4,808.64 and the CAC-40 dropped 1.67 percent to 3,140.44.

There were only five winners on the CAC-40, two of which were in the automobile manufacturing sector as Renault (Euronext: RNO) added 0.11 percent and Peugeot (Euronext: UG) gained 0.13 percent.

On the other hand, Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) dropped 4 percent to lead decliners on the Dax.

Banks were lower as BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) fell 2.58 percent, Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) was down 2.87 percent and Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) led decliners on the CAC-40 as it dropped 3.94 percent.

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: ALU; NYSE: ALU; TYO: 6687), which was the only decliner on the CAC-40 yesterday, led gainers on the index today with a gain of 1.19 percent.

Asian markets were mixed again, with gains in Tokyo as the Nikkei 225 added 1.79 percent to 9,958.44, the Topix index was up 1.58 percent to 929.76 and the Mothers market gained 0.68 percent to 442.05.

The gain for the Nikkei helped that index end the second quarter of the year with a 23 percent gain, the best quarterly performance it has had in 14 years.

The day’s gains in Tokyo came ahead of the Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan survey of business sentiment, which some analysts believe will give further proof that the worst of the economic crisis has already passed.

Other gainers in the region included South Koera’s Kospi, which added 0.12 percent to 1,390.07 while at the same time the Taiex was up 0.64 percent to 6,432.16 in Taiwan and the Straits Times Index was 0.69 percent higher to 2,333.14.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries gained 1.68 percent to 3,947.8 while the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.75 percent to 3,954.9.

The Shanghai Composite was 0.54 percent lower to 2,959.36 while the Hang Seng fell 0.81 percent to 18,378.73 and the Sensex gained 1.97 percent to 14,493.84.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.33 percent to 8,415.71 by just before 1:30 p.m. local time while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.86 percent lower to 1,828.11 and the S&P 500 had dropped 1.31 percent to 915.07.

The declines on Wall Street came after the Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index fell to 49.3 in June, down from 54.8 in May.

The Conference Board reports on two aspects of consumer confidence, how shoppers feel about the present state of the economy and how they feel about the economy’s prospects for the next six months.

Both components fell in June, with the Present Situation Index down to 24.8 in June from 92.7 in May while the Expectations Index, focused on the next half-year, fell from 71.5 in May to 65.5 in June.

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