Insurer FP leads sector to gains

Equities markets were higher n Europe Monday as financial sectors, including insurers, saw gains on the session.

The FTSE 100 was up 1.82 percent to 4,202.13 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 1.31 percent to 7,278.8.

Insurers took the top four spots on the gainers side of the 100, led by Friends Provident (LSE: FP) with a gain of 12.58 percent, as Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) added 8.68 percent, Aviva (LSE: AV) was up 7.41 percent and Old Mutual (LSE: OML) was 6.54 percent higher.

Miners were mixed, with Anglo American (LSE: AAL) adding 2.69 percent for the best performance in the sector, but miners also took four of the top spots in the 100’s list of losing companies as Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) was down 2.39 percent, Xstrata (LSE: XTA) fell 2.35 percent, Lonmin (LSE: LMI) was 1.4 percent lower and Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) dropped 0.51 percent.

Over on the 250, oil explorer Emerald Energy (LSE: EEN) once again turned in the best performance of the session with a gain of 12.76 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.71 percent to 828.18 while the CAC-40 added 2.31 percent to 3,052.08, the IBEX was 2.38 percent higher to 9,567.4 and the Dax gained 3.19 percent to 4,722.34.

There was only one decliners on the CAC-40 as Lagardere (Euronext: MMB), with interests in publishing, media, and the aerospace industry, fell 0.31 percent.

Over on the Dax just two companies saw declines as agricultural chemicals group K & S (FWB: SDF) dropped 3.01 percent while Fresenium Medical Care (FWB: FME) was 0.16 percent lower on the session.

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: ALU; NYSE: ALU; TYO: 6687) had the best day on the CAC-40 as it added 7.18 percent, while carmakers did well on the Dax with Daimler (FWB: DAI; NYSE: DAI) turning the best performance of the session with a gain of 6.04 percent while Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) was up 4.94 percent.

Asia-Pacific markets were lower on the session.

In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 was down 2.55 percent to 9,050.33 while the Topix index fell 2.3 percent to 852.42 and the Mothers market dropped 9.83 percent to 388.39.

Tokyo’s markets were lower on reports that Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso plans to dissolve parliament on 21 July and call for new elections and after the Democratic Party of Japan recorded wins over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in assembly elections in Tokyo on Sunday.

Miners were lower after metals prices fell last week, with Sumitomo Metal Mining (TYO: 5713) down 4.6 percent while Mitsui Mining (TYO: 5706) was 6.8 percent lower.

Drink makers, on the other hand, added value as Asahi Breweries Ltd. (TYO: 2502) added 2.5 percent and Sapporo Holdings Ltd. (TYO: 2501) gained 6.1 percent.

The Sensex was 0.77 percent lower to 13,400.32 while the Shanghai Composite fell 1.07 percent to 3,080.56 and in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 1.39 percent to 3,738 and the S&P/ASX200 was 1.49 percent lower to 3,737.5.

The Straits Times Index was down 1.79 percent to 2,266.64, the Hang Seng fell 2.56 percent to 17,254.63 and the Taiex and Kospi each dropped 3.53 percent on the session, to 6,530.82 and 1,378.12 respectively.

New York markets were up in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 1.61 percent to 8,277.34 by just past 1 p.m. local time, while at the same time the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.31 percent to 1,778.97 and the S&P 500 had gained 1.73 percent to 894.36.

The gains came on positive broker comment in regards to the banking sector ahead of quarterly reports due this week from several banks.

Story link: Insurer FP leads sector to gains