BBY leads 100, construction sector

European equities markets were up again Thursday as hopes continued that the global economy is making its way out of recession.

The FTSE 100 added 0.77 percent to 5,163.78 in London, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.63 percent to 9,363.54.

Construction group Balfour Beatty (LSE: BBY) was the best in its sector and led gainers on the 100 as it added 7.94 percent while British Airways (LSE: BAY; NYSE: BAB), up 5.5 percent, led gainers in the travel and leisure sector, Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) was 4.89 percent higher to lead the energy sector and water utility Pennon Group (LSE: PNN) added 3.17 percent for the best performance in a mixed utilities sector.

Most in the mining sector were higher, led by iron ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) with a gain of 7.18 percent, but the sector also produced the two worst performers on the 100 as Lonmin (LSE: LMI) fell 2.62 percent and Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) dropped 2.35 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.48 percent to 1,010.94 while the IBEX added 0.21 percent to 11,771, the CAC-40 was 0.54 percent higher to 3,834.47 and the Dax gained 0.58 percent to 5,733.19.

Aerospace and defense group EADS (Euronext: EAD; FWB: EAD) led gainers on the CAC-40 with a gain of 6.26 percent, while carmaker Peugeot (Euronext: UG) led decliners and a lower automobile manufacturing sector as it dropped 3.03 percent.

Banks were higher as Deutsche Bank (FWB: DBK; NYSE: DB) added 3.95 percent while Societe Generale (Euronext: GLE) was up 3.77 percent, BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP; TYO: 8665) was 2.38 percent higher and Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) gained 1.97 percent.

Utilities were lower as EDF (Euronext: EEN) fell 1.52 percent and GDF Suez (Euronext: GSZ, GSZB) dropped 1.16 percent.

Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF; NYSE: AKH) was down 1.65 percent on the session.

Asia-Pacific region equities markets were mostly higher on the session.

The Nikkei 225 was up 1.68 percent to 10,443.8 in Tokyo, while the Topix index added 0.87 percent but the Mothers market dropped 1.4 percent to 457.45.

Traders were higher after Australia-based miner BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) said that demand for steel will double in the next decade and a half and that both copper and energy resources will not be able to meet demand in years to come.

Mitsubishi Corp (TYO: 8058), which partners with BHP in producing coking coal, added 2.8 percent on the statement, while Mitsui & Co (TYO: 8031) was up 3.2 percent.

Steelmaker JFE Holdings (TYO: 5411) was 5 percent higher, while oil and gas explorer Inpex (TYO: 1605) gained 3.5 percent on gains in crude oil prices.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (TYO: 8316) was down 5.6 percent while Promise (TYO: 8754), the consumer lender in which Sumitomo Mitsui holds a one-fifth stake, dropped 4.4 percent on the perception that new policies to be instituted by the incoming Japanese government will hurt the consumer finance sector.

The Sensex was up 0.2 percent to 16,711.11 while the Taiex added 0.5 percent to 7,477.3 and the Kospi was 0.72 percent higher to 1,695.47.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries gained 1.32 percent to 4,714 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.39 percent to 4,714.9, while the Hang Seng was 1.71 percent higher to 21,768.51 in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite added 2.02 percent to 3,060.26.

The Straits Times Index was down 0.07 percent to 2,672.6.

New York markets drifted lower even though new data supported the idea that the US economy is beginning to emerge from the recession.

At nearly 12:30 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent to 9,781.88 while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.35 percent lower to 2,125.63 and the S&P 500 had fallen 0.31 percent to 1,065.49.

The declines came after the Labor Department reported that fewer new jobless claims were filed last week against an expected rise in new filings, when Labor also reported that continuing claims were up more than expected, to 6.2 million.

In addition, Tuesday brought the news that retail sales in the US saw gains in August, while new figures released Wednesday showed that US industrial production was also up last month.

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