AU leads gains on FTSE 100

European equities markets were mostly lower Tuesday as banks gave back recent gains and miners declined on lower base metals prices.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.24 percent to 4,671.37 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 1.03 percent to 8,242.51.

The best performance on the 100 came from IT group Autonomy Corporation (LSE: AU), which added 5.58 percent, while in the properties sector, British Land (LSE: BLND) added 4.15 percent and Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND) was up 3.04 percent.

Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN; SEHK: 2888) led a mixed banking sector lower and turned in the worst performance of the day on the 100 as it dropped 7.52 percent.

Miners were lower as prices for copper and most other base metals declined, led down by Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) with a drop of 4.39 percent while Anglo American (LSE: AAL) fell 2.57 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.33 percent to 938.83 while the CAC-40 fell 0.04 percent to 3,476.37, the Dax was 0.18 percent to 5,417.02 and the IBEX dropped 0.22 percent to 10,876.8.

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext: ALU; NYSE: ALU; TYO: 6687) was up the most on the CAC-40 as it added 4.46 percent, while cosmetics maker L’Oreal (Euronext: OR) was down 1.92 percent for the biggest decline on the index.

Over on the Dax, insurer Allianz (FWB: ALV; NYSE: AZ) added 3.63 percent to lead gainers, while Fresenius Medical Care (FWB: FREG) dropped 3.6 percent for the worst performance of the day there.

In the banking sector, Swiss bank UBS (SWX: UBSN; NSYE: UBS; TYO: 8657) dropped 4.3 percent after it reported a lost of Sfr 1.4 billion in the second quarter, more than expected, but Italian bank UniCredit (BIT: UCG; FWB: CRI) added 3.6 percent in Milan on a better than expected second-quarter report.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 0.22 percent to 10,375.01 for a fresh ten-month closing high and the Topix index was up 0.15 percent to 959.02 but the Mothers market was 0.75 percent lower to 461.39.

Carmakers were lower on the session after recent gains, with Honda Motor (TYO: 7267) falling 1 percent while Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) was down 1.5 percent and Nissan Motor (TYO: 7201) dropped 4.4 percent.

After the close of Trade, Toyota reported a loss for the most recent quarter, ending in June, but predicted smaller losses for the full year.

Exporters were up on hoes that the US economy is beginning to recover while traders gained on higher prices for commodities.

Mitusbishi Corp (TYO: 8058), Japan’s largest trader, added 2.1 percent on an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from Daiwa Institute of Research.

Other gainers included the Kospi, which added 0.09 percent to 1,566.37 while the Shanghai Composite was up 0.26 percent to 3,471.44.

In Australia, the Sydney Composite gained 1.02 percent to 4,313.9 and the S&P/ASX200 added 1.08 percent to 4,309.3.

The Hang Seng was down 0.05 percent to 20,796.43 while the Sensex fell 0.59 percent to 15,830.98, the Straits Times Index was 1.23 percent lower to 2,648.76 and the Taiex dropped 1.43 percent to 6,955.87.

Markets were higher at early afternoon in New York as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.17 percent to 8,302.66 percent at just before 1:30 p.m., while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.14 percent to 2,011.41 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.21 percent to 1,004.76.

The gains came after the National Assoication of Realtor’s Pending Home Sales index was reported up 3.6 percent in June and on new data from the Commerce Department which said that consumer spending was up 0.4 percent in June, even though when adjusted for inflation spending fell 0.1 percent during the month.

In addition, personal income was reported down 1.3 percent in June from the month before, more of a decline than had been anticipated.

Story link: AU leads gains on FTSE 100