Barratt Developments, Taylor Wimpey each add over 20 percent

European equities markets were up significantly Thursday as carmakers and some miners saw gains.

The FTSE 100 was up 4.28 percent to 4,134.97 in London, while the FTSE 250 gained 4.21 percent to 6,816.12.

Over on the 250, homebuilders had the best performances of the day as Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV) added 20.22 percent and Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) gained 23.4 percent on the session.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 4.88 percent to 781.48 while the IBEX added 4.69 percent to 8,334.7, the CAC-40 was 5.37 percent higher to 2,992.06 and the Dax gained 6.07 percent to 4,381.92.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region also saw gains, some of them significant.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 4.4 percent to 8,719.78, the Topix index added 4.14 percent to 826.69 and the Mothers market gained 1.06 percent to 313.63.

The Shanghai Composite was up 0.72 percent to 2,425.29 while in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries added 2.69 percent to 3,622.2 and the S&P/ASX200 was 2.81 percent higher to 3,680.2.

The Taiex added 3 percent to 5,473.78, the Kospi was up 3.54 percent to 1,276.97, the Sensex gained 4.51 percent to 10,348.83, the Straits Times index added 5.94 percent to 1,803.34 and the Hang Seng gained 7.41 percent to 14,521.97.

Wall Street also saw gains in early afternoon trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 each adding 3.35 percent at just past 1:30 p.m., to 8,021.65 and 838.27 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was 3.48 percent higher to 1,605.58.

Crude oil prices were higher in New York and London, as were grains prices on the Chicago Board of Trade, but precious metals prices were mixed as gold saw declines.

The euro and the pound saw gains on an European Central Bank interest rate decision and on a gain in house prices in the UK.

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