PFC leads gains on 100

Most equities markets in Europe were higher Thursday after positive quarterly results from US banks JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), which said it’s second quarter profits were up by 36 percent, and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS).

The FTSE 100 added 0.35 percent to 4,361.84 in London, but the FTSE 250 was 0.24 percent lower to 7,554.11.

Construction and chemical engineering group Petrofac Ltd (LSE: PFC) turned in the best performance of the day on the 100 as it added 5.26 percent while IT group Autonomy Corporation (LSE: AU) had the worst day on the index as it dropped 8.57 percent.

Over on the 250, asset managers took the top spots on both the winners and losers list as BlueBay Asset Management (LSE: BBAY) was up 12.6 percent and Henderson Group (LSE: HGI; ASX: HGI) was down 8.43 percent on the session.

Most insurers were lower as Standard Life (LSE: SLET) added 2.9 percent but Legal & General (LSE: LGEN) fell 2.32 percent and Old Mutual (LSE: OML) dropped 2.26 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.5 percent to 867.67 while the Dax added 0.58 percent to 4,957.19, the CAC-40 was 0.9 percent higher to 3,199.68 and the IBEX gained 0.93 percent to 9,997.6.

Most banks in the region were higher as Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) led the CAC-40 with an advance of 3.16 percent while Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) was up 2.08 percent and BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) gained 1.66 percent, but Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) was 0.9 percent lower on the session.

Retailer Metro (FWB: MEO) turned in the best performance on the Dax as it added 3.5 percent while utility Eon (FWB: EOA; LSE: EON; NYSE: EON) had the worst day on the index with a decline of 1.27 percent.

In the semiconductors sector, STMicroelectronics (Euronext: STM; NYSE: STM) turned in the worst performance on the day on the CAC-40 as it dropped 1.77 percent.

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

The Nikkei 225 was up 0.81 percent to 8,344.16 in Tokyo, while the Topix index added 0.68 percent to 872.25 and the Mothers market gained 1.59 percent to 421.73.

Shippers saw gains even though news reports speculated that Nippon Yusen (TYO: 9101) and Mitsui OSK (TYO: 9104) could report quarterly losses of ¥20 billion and ¥10 billion respectively.

Nippon Yusen was up 0.3 percent, Mitsui OSK added 1.9 percent and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (TYO: 9107) gained 3.5 percent as the Baltic Dry Index was up 7.3 percent, an indication that shipping costs are going up.

The Straits Times Index added 0.49 percent to 2,401.02 while the Hang Seng was up 0.57 percent to 18,361.87, the Taiex was 0.62 percent higher to 6,780.3 and the Kospi gained 0.8 percent to 1,432.22.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.79 percent to 3,987.8 while the S&P/ASX200 gained 1.81 percent to 3,995.6.

Decliners in the region included the Sensex, which dropped 0.02 percent to 14,250.25 while the Shanghai Composite was 0.15 percent lower to 3,183.74.

Wall Street was mixed in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.14 percent to 8,627.93 and the Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.27 percent to 1,868.02 but the S&P 500 had dropped 0.03 percent to 932.39.

Investors were cautious despite the good reports from JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs on speculation that lender CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) could file for bankruptcy protection after negotiations with the government regulators over a bailout failed.

Story link: PFC leads gains on 100