Miners lower after disappointing ANTO first half

European equities markets were lower Wednesday despite optimistic data that included a gain in German business sentiment.

The FTSE 100 was 0.53 percent lower to 4,890.58 in London, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.88 percent to 8,783.21.

Miners were lower after UK-listed Chilean miner Antofagasta’s (LSE: ANTO) first-half earnings were reported lower than expectations, sending its shares down by 4.75 percent on the session.

Iron-ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) turned in the worst performance in the sector as it dropped 6.51 percent, while gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) led declines on the 100, falling 5.18 percent.

Most banks were higher in London, led by Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) with a gain of 5.3 percent, while business services provider Serco Group (LSE: SRP) led gains on the 100 with an advance of 6 percent.

House builder Redrow (LSE: RDW) was the session’s best performer on the 250 as it added 5.34 percent.

Brewers and the pharmaceuticals sector both saw gains.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.47 percent to 974.19 while the CAC-40 fell 0.33 percent to 3,668.34, the IBEX was 0.45 percent lower to 11,376.4 and the Dax dropped 0.63 percent to 5,521.97.

Banks mostly higher as Commerzbank (FWB: CBK) added 3.16 percent, Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) was up 1.41 percent and Societe Generale (FWB: GLE) gained 1.08 percent, but BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) dropped 2.17 percent.

Carmakers were lower as Volkswagen (FWB: VOW) was down 2.95 percent and Renault (Euronext: RNO) fell 2.84 percent.

Chemicals group BASF (FWB: BFA; NYSE: BF) was the biggest decliner on the Dax as it dropped 3.33 percent, while over on the CAC-40 manufacturer Saint Gobain (Euronext: SGO) turned in the worst performance of the day as it fell 5.08 percent.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were up after good first half results from China’s biggest international airline and its largest life insurance company.

Air China Limited (SSE: 601111) added 10 percent on its report that income doubled in the first half, while China Life Insurance Co. (SSE: 601628) was up 3.2 percent after it said its profits were up by 15 percent in the first half of the year.

These results helped send the Shanghai Composite up 1.78 percent on the session to 2,967.6.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 added 1.36 percent to 10,639.71 while the Topix index was up 1.09 percent to 975.59 and the Mothers market gained 0.37 percent to 459.78.

Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) was up 1.5 percent after it said it will close an assembly line next year in response do demand declines.

Elsewhere in the region, the Hang Seng was up 0.1 percent to 20,456.32 while the Straits Times Index added 0.37 percent to 2,628.43, the Sensex was 0.52 percent higher to 15,769.85 and the Kospi gained 0.8 percent to 1,614.12.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.06 percent to 4,464.4 while the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.11 percent to 4,454.5.

In Taiwan, the Taiex dropped 1.32 percent to 6,719.21.

New York markets were lower in early afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.08 percent to 9,531.96 at just before 1 p.m. while at the same time the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.36 percent to 2,017 and the S&P 500 was 0.22 percent lower to 1,025.75.

Story link: Miners lower after disappointing ANTO first half