Kingfisher down on full-year results

European equities markets were mixed Thursday, as London markets, Frankfurt’s Dax and the IBEX in Madrid up while the Eurofirst 300 and the CAC-40 were slightly lower on the session.

In London, the FTSE 100 added 0.64 percent to 3,925.2 while the FTSE 250 gained 0.17 percent to 6,382.14.

Retailers were lower on a report that UK retail sales dropped 1.9 percent in February, a much greater decline than had been anticipated, and after DIY retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KFG) was down 1.55 percent and clothing retailer Next (LSE: NXT) dropped 2.32 percent as both reported dismal full-year results.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.03 percent to 743.71 and the CAC-40 dropped 0.05 percent to 2,892.07 while the IBEX added 0.05 percent to 8,076.2 and the Dax was up 0.85 percent to 2,892.07.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher, with only a small and mid-caps index in Tokyo seeing declines in the major markets.

The Nikkei 225 was up 1.84 percent to 8,636.33 in Tokyo, while the Topix index added 1.02 percent to 826.81 but the Mothers market of small and mid-caps dropped 0.67 to 306.62.

Elsewhere in the region, the Taiex was up 0.75 percent to 5,386.56 while in Australia the S&P/ASX200 added 1.03 percent to 3,646.6 and the Sydney Ordinaries gained 1.13 percent to 3,586.3.

The Kospi was 1.2 percent higher to 1,243.8 while the Shanghai Composite added 3.06 percent to 2,361.7, the Sensex was up 3.47 percent to 10,003.1, the Hang Seng added 357 percent to 14,108.98 and the Straits Times Index gained 3.93 percent to 1,758.79.

At nearly 2:30 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 1.9 percent higher to 7,896.92 while the Nasdaq Composite had added 2.95 percent to 1,574.04 and the S&P 500 was up 1.86 percent to 829.

Crude oil and metals prices were higher on the session while grains prices were mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc both declined on more risk appetite from investors.

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Story link: Kingfisher down on full-year results