Posted on Thursday, 29th April 2010 by Emily Smith
Most equities markets in Europe returned to declines Friday even though there were predictions that an agreement on the rescue package for Greece could come as soon as Saturday.
The FTSE 100 was down 1.15 percent to 5,553.29 in London, while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.26 percent to 10,366.
Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC) led declines on the 100 and in London, falling 6.37 percent on its quarterly report.
Barclays’ net profits gained 29 percent overall in the first quarter, with net income up 4 percent and impairments down by 35 percent, but revenue at its Barclays Capital unit were down 26 percent in the quarter as revenues were at £3.8 billion rather than the £4.9 billion which had been anticipated.
The mining sector was mostly lower, hurt by concerns that Australia could impose a 40 percent tax on mining profits from operations there.
Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) did worst among miners listed in London, falling 4.36 percent, while Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was down 4.1 percent and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) dropped 3.81 percent.
However, Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) was the biggest gainer on the 100 and led the three gainers in the sector higher as it added 3.04 percent, with Talvivaara Mining Company (LSE: TALV) up 2.15 percent and iron-ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) seeing a gain of 1.21 percent.
Over on the 250, environmental consultancy RPS Group (LSE: RPS) led the index and all of London as it added 5.19 percent, while automotive and aerospace engineers GKN (LSE: GKN) fell 5.65 percent for the worst performance of the day on the 250.
Asset managers did fairly well on the 250 as BlueBay Asset Management (LSE: BBAY) added 4.33 percent and F&C Asset Management (LSE: FCAM) was 3.52 percent higher.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.86 percent to 1,060.84 while the Dax fell 0.15 percent to 6,135.7 and the CAC-40 dropped 0.62 percent to 3,816.99 but the IBEX added 0.49 percent to 10,492.2 despite a report that the unemployment rate in Spain reached 20.05 percent in the first quarter, with 4.6 million individuals out of work at the end of March.
In the Asia-Pacific region, most markets were higher on the session, although Taiwan’s Taiex dropped 0.62 percent to 8,004.25.
In Tokyo, open for a day after a holiday and before closures next week for the Golden Week holiday period, the Nikkei 225 added 1.21 percent to 11,057.4 while the Topix index was up 0.96 percent to 987.04 and the Mothers market gained 0.48 percent to 504.75.
The gains came on corporate results and news, rising even though new data showed that consumer prices fell by 1.2 percent in March from the same month last year, dropping for the 13th consecutive month, while the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 5 percent last month.
Japan Tobacco (TYO: 2914) added 5.1 percent on its report that net income was up 12 percent in the fiscal year just ended, and on the announcement that it will raise prices on all but two of its 105 brands when the government raises the tobacco tax in October.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co (TYO: 4502) gained 3.3 percent after settlement of a patent lawsuit related to a diabetes drug it developed, delaying by up to a year and a half a US company’s version of the pill.
Elsewhere in the region, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.08 percent to 2,870.61, while in India the Sensex was 0.32 percent higher to 17,558.71.
In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.37 percent to 4,833.9 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 0.46 percent to 4,807.4 as banks saw gains.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) was up 1.6 percent while Macquarie Group (ASX: MQG), the largest investment bank in Australia, added 4 percent on fiscal second half profits that more than doubled.
The Straits Times Index was 0.53 percent higher to 2,974.61 in Singapore, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.76 percent to 1,741.56, and the Hang Seng gained 1.59 percent to 21,108.59.
Among Chinese banks listed in Hong Kong, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (SEHK: 1398) was up 1.9 percent on first quarter net profits that were up 18 percent, while China Construction Bank (SEHK: 939) was 4.2 percent higher after reporting that its net profits were up 34 percent in the first quarter.
New York markets were lower in midday trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 0.61 percent to 11,099.3 while the S&P 500 was down 0.91 percent to 1,195.78 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.08 percent lower to 2,484.84.
Prices for crude oil and metals were higher at midday in New York.
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