ENRC leads 100, mining sector

European equities markets were mixed Wednesday, with London’s markets up slightly but others seeing declines.

The FTSE 100 added 0.08 percent to 4,689.67 in London, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.19 percent to 8,370.25.

The mining sector was mixed, but Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) led the 100 and the sector’s gainers as it added 6.24 percent while gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) was up 5.79 percent.

Meanwhile, Talvivaara Mining (LSE: TALV) turned in the worst performance of the day in the sector as it dropped 1.25 percent.

Over on the 250, directories publisher Yell Group (LSE: YELL) led gainers on the index and in a mixed media sector as it added 16.03 percent.

Scottish and Southern Energy (LSE: SSE) led decliners on the 100 as it fell 5.11 percent while over on the 250 the biggest loser of the day was Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (LSE: MLC), down 4.39 percent on the session.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 and the Dax each fell 0.36 percent, to 931.16 and 5,231.98 respectively, while the IBEX was down 0.12 percent to 10,695.5 and the CAC-40 dropped 0.01 percent to 3,450.34.

Utilities were up as GDF Suez (Euronext: GSZ, GSZB) led the CAC-40 with a gain of 2.55 percent while Eon (FWB: EOA; LSE: EON; NYSE: EON) was up 2.06 percent, EDF (Euronext: EEN) was 1.61 percent higher and RWE (FWB: RWE) added 1.51 percent.

Carmakers declined as Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) fell 13.98 percent to lead decliners on the Dax even as Peugeot (Euronext: UG) was down 2.08 percent, truck maker Man (FWB: EDF1) was 1.69 percent lower and Renault (Euronext: RNO) dropped 1.18 percent.

Banks were also lower, with Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) falling 1.28 percent while BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) was down 1.19 percent and Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) dropped 1.03 percent.

Construction group Vinci (Euronext: DG) led decliners on the CAC-40 as it fell 2.18 percent.

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

The Nikkei 225 was down 0.79 percent to 10,204 in Tokyo, while the Topix index fell 0.67 percent to 943.25 and the Mothers market was 1.21 percent lower to 449.7.

Sanyo (TYO: 6764) added 10.3 percent, and was 17 percent higher earlier in the session, on the news that Toyota (TYO: 7203) will begin using Sanyo’s lithium-ion batteries in its hybrid cars beginning in 2011.

Toyota was up 0.3 percent while at the same time Mazda (TYO: 7261) added 1.2 percent and Honda Motor (TYO: 7267) gained 2 percent after Nomura Securities upgraded the sector from “neutral” to “bullish”.

Elsewhere in the region, Australian markets were mixed as the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.04 percent to 4,387.5 but the S&P/ASX200 was down 0.18 percent to 4,373.8.

The Taiex fell 0.02 percent to 6,788.58 while the Kospi was down 0 .28 percent to 1,545.96, the Sensex dropped 1.5 percent to 14,809.64, the Hang Seng was 1.73 percent lower to 19,954.23, the Straits Times Index fell 1.75 percent to 2,522.78 and the Shanghai Composite was 4.3 percent lower to 2,785.58.

Shanghai’s decline came on the heels of a 1.4 percent gain Tuesday but a drop of 5.79 on Monday, bringing its losses so far this week to 8.69 percent.

At nearly 1 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.73 percent to 9,285.05, while at the same time the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.62 percent to 1,968.12 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.74 percent to 996.96.

The gains came after a large and unexpected decline in crude oil stockpiles pushed share prices for oil companies up in early afternoon trade.

Story link: ENRC leads 100, mining sector