Equities markets mostly higher; oil, nickel prices gain

The Nikkei 225 closed at a 10-month high Friday, adding 0.2 percent to 17,547.11, while the Topix index also gained 0.2 percent to 1,742.40 as several companies saw significant daily gains. Among those gains was a 13 percent rise by Nikko Cordial after an earnings restatement convinced some that it was working toward a new start after its recent accounting scandal. Dowa Mining also saw double digit gains on an upgraded earnings forecast as the end of its fiscal year approaches.

In Europe, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 ganed 1.6 percent on the week to close Friday’s session at 1,537.65. German energy company Eon saw big gains after the withdrawal of Gas Natural from the bidding for Endsea left Eon as the only contender for the Spanish power generator. The truck making and airlines sectors were also higher on the week.

The FTSE 100 was 0.4 percent higher on the day and up 1.3 percent over the week as it closed at 6,310.9 on Friday. The FTSE 250 was up 1.1 percent for the session and 2 percent for the week when it closed at an all-time high 11,343.3 at the end of Friday’s session. Grocers were up on continuing speculation that a private equity group will bid for J Sainsbury based on interest in the properties it owns. These rumors also helped other property-backed stocks. Volume was an active 4.2 billion shares traded on the day.

Mid-session in New York found the markets mixed on the day but higher on the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had lost 0.2 percent at noon to 12,646.20 but still 1.3 percent higher for the whole week. The Nasdaq Composite was 0.1 percent higher at mid-session at 2,470.93, a gain of 1.5 percent on the week, while the S&P 500 was even on the day so far but up 1.7 for the week at 1,445.75. The Russell 2000 index of mid-caps was 2.7 percent higher on the week at lunchtime, having breached the 800 level for the first time in its history. Earnings reports and mergers activity were both in the spotlight during the week.

Currency markets saw the US dollar and the yen both generally weaker during the day as the yen was faced with possible discussion at the G7 meeting coming up in Germany and the greenback dealt with fallout from the US Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates on hold.

In commodities markets, crude oil saw slight gains on Friday. Over the week gains were stronger, with West Texas Intermediate crude up 3.7 percent in the five sessions. Among metals, copper and zinc both fell significantly on Friday, while nickel was up by $550 per tonne on Friday even though it lost nearly 2 percent during the week. Gold was lower on the day.

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