Randgold leads FTSE 100 in London

European equities markets were mixed Wednesday, with most gaining or losing just slightly.

In London the FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 4,234.26 while the FTSE 250 gained just 0.01 percent to 6,496.28.

Miners led gains on both the 100, where Randgold (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) was up 7.7 percent, and on the 250 where sector components took all five top spots on the 250, led by Lonmin (LSE: LMI) with a gain of 11.02 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.21 percent to 804.28 and the IBEX dropped 0.49 percent to 8,355.8, but the CAC-40 added 0.23 percent to 3,027.72 and the Dax gained 0.54 percent to 4,530.09.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower on the session, but Taiwan’s Taiex and the Straits Times Index each added 1.1 percent, to 4,575.95 and 1,721.97 respectively.

The Shanghai Composite was down 0.19 percent to 2,260.82, the Sensex fell 0.3 percent to 9,618.54, and in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries dropped 0.31 percent to 3,418.1 and the S&P/ASX200 was 0.41 percent lower to 3,474.4.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.72 percent to 1,190.18 and the Hang Seng dropped 2.46 percent to 13,539.21.

Tokyo’s markets were closed in observation of National Foundation Day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.25 percent in afternoon trade in New York, while the S&P 500 had added 0.24 percent to 829.13 but the Nasdaq Composite was 0.02 percent lower to 1,524.37.

New US inventories data pushed crude oil prices lower in New York, while precious metals prices were higher but copper declined on a drop in imports to China last month..

Grains prices were down on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The yen saw gains as investors fled from risk on distrust of the new bank rescue plan from the US government.

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