European equities see some gains

Equities markets were higher in Europe on Thursday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.69 percent to 1,330.08. The Dax was 0.07 percent higher to 6,904.85 in Frankfurt while the IBEX added 0.71 percent to 13,173 and the Paris CAC-40 gained 0.96 percent to 4,858.85. In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.65 percent to 5,932.2 while the FTSE 250 gained 0.57 percent to 10,181.7.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region also saw gains. The exception was in China, where the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.87 percent to 4,527.18. The Hang Seng added 0.14 percent to 23,623 while India’s Sensex was up 0.66 percent to 17,734.68. The FTSE Straits Times Index was 0.92 percent higher to 3,054.81. South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.97 percent to 1,704.36. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.54 percent to 5,663 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 1.58 percent to 5,583.4. The Taiex was 2.43 percent higher to 8,085.93 in Taiwan. Tokyo’s markets were also higher. The Nikkei 225 was up 2.84 percent to 13,688.28 while the Topix index added 2.46 percent to 1,334.72 and the Mothers market gained 2.49 percent to 686.56 as the yen weakened.

Wall Street was lower in early afternoon trade on a contraction in regional manufacturing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.96 percent lower to 12,307.42 while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.65 percent to 2,312.03 and the S&P 500 dropped 1,347.11.

Crude oil prices were lower after US inventories gained over 4 million barrels last week according to the Energy Information Administration, but metals and grains prices were higher on the session.

The US dollar was weaker near midday while the pound gained on all major currencies on a government report showing that retail sales grew in January after a decline in December.

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