Barclays up 73 percent on session

European equities markets made gains Monday after Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642) said it will not need to raise more capital, as it will be able to absorb 2008’s writedowns with plenty of capital to spare.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 3.86 percent to 4,209.01 while the FTSE 250 gained 2.76 percent to 783.09.

Barclays Bank added 73.24 percent on its announcement, turning in the best performance of the session on the 100 by far, followed by Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) with a gain of 32.25 percent as RBS (LSE: RBS; NYSE: RBS PRM) was up 19.83 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 2.97 percent to 783.09 while the IBEX added 2.48 percent to 8,375.2, the Dax was 3.54 percent higher to 4,326.87 and the CAC-40 gained 3.73 percent to 2,955.37.

Most equities markets in the Asia-Pacific region were closed to observe the Lunar New Year, but Tokyo’s markets remained open.

The Topix index was at a three-month low, closing down 0.68 percent to 768.28, while the Nikkei 225 fell 0.81 percent to 7,682.14 and the Mothers market dropped 1.99 percent to 323.09.

Wall Street saw gains in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.78 percent to 8,140.64, the Nasdaq Composite had added 1.24 percent to 1,495.66 and the S&P 500 had gained 1.09 percent to 841.03.

Crude oil prices dropped while metals prices were up and grains prices fell on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The yen declined as some investors looked willing to return to carry trades on the positive news from Barclays Bank.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: Barclays up 73 percent on session