Computacenter adds 10 percent on session

Equities markets were higher in Europe Wednesday.

The FTSE 100 added 0.62 percent to 5,276.64 in London, while the FTSE 250 gained 1.67 percent to 9,329.92.

IT services group Computacenter (LSE: CCC) led gainers on the 250 and in London generally as it added 10.15 percent, while the best performance on the 100 came from hedge fund manager Man Group (LSE: EMG), which was up 5.18 percent on rumors that US investment managers BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) is interested in buying a stake in the hedge fund manager.

Banks were higher, led by Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) with a gain of 3.2 percent.

Most miners were higher on the session, led by Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC), which was up 4.09 percent, while iron-ore miner Ferrexpo (LSE: FXPO) turned in the worst performance in the sector, dropping 2.63 percent.

The worst performer of the London session was Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities (LSE: ECW), as the investment trust specializing in utilities fell 3.62 percent.

Most utilities were higher in London, but Scottish & Southern Energy (LSE: SSE) dropped 2.87 percent to lead declines on the 100 as it traded ex-dividend.

The retail sector was mostly higher as well, led by automobile retailer Inchcape (LSE: INCH) with a gain of 4.76 percent, while video games retailer Game Group (LSE: GMG) dropped 2.5 percent for the worst performance in the sector.

Elsewhere in the region, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.23 percent to 1,014.47 while the Dax and the IBEX each added 1.01 percent, to 5,648.34 and 10,498.6 respectively and the CAC-40 gained 1.53 percent to 3,725.21.

There was only one loser on the CAC-40, where electricity utility EDF (Euronext: EDF) was down 0.91 percent on the session.

Markets were higher in the Asia-Pacific region as China and Taiwan remained closed to celebrate Lunar New Year.

The Nikkei 225 was 2.72 percent higher to 10,306.83 in Tokyo, while the Topix index added 2.2 percent to 904.63 and the Mothers market gained 1.07 percent to 392.76.

Trader Mitsubishi Corp (TYO: 8058) added 3.4 percent on gains in commodities prices.

Shippers were also up as rates for transporting commodities rose, led by Mitsui OSK (TYO: 9104), which added 5 percent and was also helped after Mitsubishi UFJ Securities raised its recommendation on the shipper from “outperform” to “strong outperform”.

Other shippers seeing gains included, in Tokyo, Nippon Yusen (TYO: 9101) with a gain of 2.1 percent, while China Merchants Holdings (International) Co Ltd (SEHK: 0144) was up 2.9 percent in Hong Kong and Cosco Corp Singapore Ltd (SGX: C21) was 3.2 percent higher in Singapore.

Elsewhere in the region, India’s Sensex was up 1.25 percent to 16,428.91 while the Straits Times Index added 1.27 percent to 2,794.06 in Singapore, the Hang Seng was 1.31 percent higher in Hong Kong and South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.65 percent to 1,627.43.

Australia’s markets were also higher, with the Sydney Ordinaries adding 2.09 percent to 4,686.8 while the S&P/ASX200 was 2.19 percent higher to 4,667.9 on gains among miners.

New York markets were up in midday trade as the Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 0.37 percent to 10,306.37 while the S&P 500 was 0.36 percent higher to 1,098.77 and the Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.28 percent to 2,220.43.

Prices for crude oil and copper were up at midday in New York, but precious metals were lower.

Tags: Asia-Pacific markets, commodities, European markets, London markets, Wall Street