House builders BDEV, TW see gains

European equities markets were higher Thursday as the construction and building materials sectors saw gains.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 1.43 percent to 4,756.58 while the FTSE 250 was up 1.65 percent to 8,508.64.

Home builder Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) led the 250 with a gain of 9.45 percent while Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) gained 7.49 percent on the session.

UK property developers did not do quite as well as Land Securities Group (LSE: LAND) dropped 1.05 percent and British Land (LSE: BLND) was down 0.55 percent over on the 100.

Advertiser and public relations firm WPP Group (LSE: WPP) led gains on the 100 as it added 7.27 percent, while the biggest loser on the index was broker Man Group (LSE: EMG) with a decline of 1.2 percent.

Engineering group Wellstream Holdings (LSE: WSM) dropped 10.24 percent on the session to lead declines on the 250.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.38 percent to 944.87 while the Dax added 1.51 percent to 5,311.06, the CAC-40 was 1.59 percent higher to 3,505.32 and the IBEX gained 1.84 percent to 10,892.5.

Swiss cement maker Holcim (SIX: HOLN) added 5.7 percent after it said that construction will rebound next year, while construction materials group Lafarge (Euronext: LG; NYSE: LR) was up 4.7 percent and builder Vinci (Euronext: DG) gained 3.29 percent.

Carmakers were mixed as Renault (Euronext: RNO) led the CAC-40 with a gain of 5.21 percent and truck maker man (FWB: EDF1) was up 2.64 percent but Volkswagen was the biggest of only three decliners on the Dax as it dropped 1.15 percent.

Chemicals group BASF (FWB: BFA; NYSE: BF) was the biggest gainer on the Dax as it added 2.67 percent, and utilities did well on the index as RWE (FWB: RWE) gained 2.41 percent and Eon (FWB: EOA; LSE: EON; NYSE: EON) was 2.16 percent higher.

There were only two decliners on the CAC-40, led by drinks maker Pernod Ricard (Euronext: RI), which dropped 1.56 percent.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher after the Shanghai composite regained some of the week’s earlier losses, adding 4.52 percent to 2,911.58 on the session, on reports that China’s stock regulator has approved new mutual funds.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 1.76 percent to 10,383.41 while the Topix index was 1.63 percent higher to 958.59 and the Mothers market gained 0.23 percent to 450.73.

Tokyo’s oil sector was higher after crude oil prices shot up yesterday on new data from the US Energy Information Administration that US crude inventories were unexpectedly down 8.4 million barrels last week, raising hopes that demand for oil and oil products is improving.

Oil and gas explorer Inpex (TYO: 1605) added 2.9 percent while distributor Nippon Oil (TYO: 5001) was 1.9 percent higher.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 added 0.08 percent to 4,377.5 while the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.09 percent to 4,391.4.

The Sensex was up 1.37 percent to 15,012.32 in India, while the Straits Times Index added 1.46 percent to 2,559.57, the Hang Seng was 1.88 percent higher to 20,328.86 and the Kospi gained 1.97 percent to 1,576.39 in South Korea.

The Taiex, on the other hand, dropped 0.82 percent to 6,733.23 in Taiwan.

In early afternoon trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent to 9,325.70 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.75 percent to 1,983.94 and the S&P 500 was 0.85 percent higher to 1,004.96.

Story link: House builders BDEV, TW see gains