European equities gain; London mixed

Europe’s equities markets were higher Thursday after oil companies saw gains.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.27 percent to 1,330.28 while the Paris CAC-40 gained 0.1 percent to 4,975.9, and the Dax and IBEX each added 0.3 percent, to 7,055.03 and 13,539.5 respectively.

London’s markets, however, were mixed on declines for house builders and banks after house prices were reported lower again in May.

The FTSE 100 dropped 0.02 percent to 6,068.1 while the FTSE 250 added 0.41 percent to 10,098.2.

Asian markets were mostly higher on optimism after durable goods orders in the US were reported up.

The main exceptions to the gains were in India, where the Sensex dropped 1.27 percent to 16,316.26 and in China with a decline of 1.66 percent to 3,401.44 for the Shanghai Composite.

Gainers included the Taiex, up 0.22 percent to 8,684.92, while the Hang Seng was 0.55 percent higher to 24,383.99 and the Straits Times Index added 0.89 percent to 3,160.78.

In Australia, both the S&P/ASX200 and the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.09 percent, to 5,709.4 and 5,817.2 respectively, while South Korea’s Kospi index gained 1.97 percent to 1,841.22.

Gains in the financial sector and falling oil prices led to advances on Wall Street in afternoon trade, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.82 percent to 12,697.68 by mid-afternoon, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.21 percent to 2,516.68 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.91 percent to 1,403.46.

Crude oil prices fell more than $4 per barrel in both New York and London, while metals and grains prices also saw substantial declines.

The US dollar was stronger versus the euro and the yen, while an increased appetite for risk allowed both the Australia and New Zealand dollars to gain on the yen.

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