Taylor Wimpey leads FTSE 250 gainers

Most equities markets in Europe were higher Friday as banks and miners saw gains.

The FTSE 100 added 0.69 percent to 4,417.94 in London, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.71 percent to 7,572, with gains coming as Nationwide Building Society reported that house prices in the UK were up by 1.2 percent in May.

Home builder Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW) was the top performer on the 250 as it added 9.4 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.23 percent to 862.2 while the Dax added 0.16 percent to 4,940.82 and the CAC-40 gained 0.43 percent to 3,277.65 but the IBEX dropped 0.12 percent to 9,424.3.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher as China and Taiwan remained closed for holidays there.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei closed at its highest since October 15, adding 0.75 percent to 9,522.5 and brining the week’s gains to 3.2 percent and the gain for May to nearly 8 percent, while the Topix index was up 0.26 percent to 897.91 and the Mothers market was 2.19 percent higher to 394.05.

South Korea’s Kospi index was up 0.27 percent to 1,395.89 while the Straits Times Index was 1.57 percent higher to 2,329.08 and in Australia the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.58 percent to 3,813.3 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 1.66 percent to 3,818.1.

The Hang Seng was up 1.6 percent in Hong Kong while India’s Sensex added 2.3 percent to 14,625.25.

Wall Street was mixed in early afternoon trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up fractionally to 8,403.96 at just past 1 p.m. while at the same time the S&P 500 was up 0.23 percent to 908.88 but the Nasdaq Composite was 0.04 percent lower to 1,751.12.

Crude oil, metals and grains prices all saw gains on the session.

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