London markets higher on session

Asian and Pacific equities markets were higher on Thursday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.52 percent to 5,935.4, while the SP/ASX200 was 93.8 points higher to 5955.7. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 0.89 percent to 19,690.25, while India’s Sensex was 2.8 percent higher to 13,308.03 and the Straits Times index in Singapore was up 2.9 percent to 3,219.51. Returning from a holiday on Wednesday, the Tokyo markets also saw gains. The Nikkei 225 gained 1.5 percent to 17,419.20, while the Topix index was 1.4 percent higher, to 1,731.8.

There were gains in European markets, too, with the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up 1.54 percent to 1,515.55. The advance took the Eurofirst to a gain of 4 percent in the past four sessions. Elsewhere, the Dax added 2.16 percent to 6.856.96 in Frankfurt, while in Paris the CAC-40 gained 1.75 percent to 5,598.37. Meanwhile in London, the FTSE 100 added 0.98 percent to 6318, while the FTSE 250 closed 0.82 percent higher, at 11,708.1.

Wall Street was mixed in early afternoon trade with news of higher oil prices outweighing new data which showed new that unemployment claims were down for the third week in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up, but only 0.01 percent, to 12,447.6, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.24 percent lower to 2,450.01 and the S&P 500 fell 0.02 percent to 1,434.72.

In the commodities markets, oil prices rose significantly. Precious metals prices were higher, as well.

By early afternoon in New York, the US dollar was slightly higher in relation to the yen, euro, and sterling. Otherwise, at midday in London, sterling was stronger and the yen was even versus the euro but dropped in relation to the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

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