Europe equities see gains on banks

European markets were higher Tuesday as banks advanced on the news of a higher bid for Bears Stearns. The pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 3.12 percent to 1,264.94. The Dax added 3.24 percent to 6,524.71 while the CAC-40 was 3.49 percent to 4,692 and the IBEX gained 3.63 percent to 13,434.2. In London, the FTSE 100 added 3.53 percent to 5,689.1 while the FTSE 250 gained 3.66 percent to 9,794.6.

Tokyo’s equities markets rose to their highest level in 2 weeks. The Nikkei 225 added 12,745.22 while the Topix index was up 1.54 percent to 1,242.98 and the Mothers market of small and mid-caps gained 1.26 percent to 607.08. Most other Asia-Pacific region equities markets were also higher. The Shanghai Composite added 0.09 percent to 3,629.62d while South Korea’s Kospi index was up 1.19 percent to 1,674.93 and the Straits Times Index was 2.47 percent higher to 3,000.19. In Australia the Sydney Ordinaries gained 3.34 percent to 5,335.7 and the S&P/ASX200 was up 3.72 percent to 5,318.4. The Sensex was 6.07 percent higher to 16,217.49 while the Hang Seng jumped 6.43 percent to 16,464.52. The main exception was in Taiwan, where the Taiex dropped 0.79 percent to 8,795.09.

Wall Street was mixed in early afternoon trade. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.08 percent to 12,538.38, the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.38 percent to 2,335.6 and the S&P 500 was up 0.29 percent to 1,353.74.

Crude oil prices were slightly lower in afternoon trade, while metals prices were higher as investors looked to find hedges against inflation. Grains prices were higher in Chicago.

The US dollar and the yen were lower versus the euro and the Australian and New Zealand dollars.

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