Close Brothers Group leads gains in London

European markets were higher Tuesday, with gains coming after Standard & Poor’s issued a report saying that Greece is likely to meet immediate goals toward righting its troubled economy.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.48 percent to 5,620.43 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 0.52 percent to 9,930.04.

The biggest gain in London came on the 250, where investment bank Close Brothers Group (LSE: CBG) added 7.69 percent after its net income in its fiscal first half nearly doubled.

Most banks were higher, with Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC) up 2.54 percent after Morgan Stanley raised its target share price, but Lloyds Banking Group (LSE: LLOY) was down 0.12 percent on the session.

Miners saw gains, with Eurasian Natural Resources (LSE: ENRC) up 2.91 percent and Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS) adding 2.5 percent as both were among the 100s top five gainers, but Gem Diamonds (LSE: GEMD) was the biggest decliner on the 250 as it dropped 4.78 percent.

Security group G4S (LSE: GFS) was down 3.37 percent for the worst performance of the session on the 100, while British Airways led gains on the 100 as it added 4.5 percent after reaching an agreement with unions to cut its pension deficit.

Insurers were mixed on the 100, with Legal & General Group (LSE: LGEN) up 3.26 percent for the best performance in the sector, but Prudential (LSE: PRU) dropped 1.4 percent and auto insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) fell 0.88 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.04 percent to 1,062.01 while the IBEX added 0.93 percent to 11,059.3, the Dax was. 1.14 percent higher to 5,970.99 and the CAC-40 gained 1.23 percent to 3,938.95.

There were only 3 decliners on the CAC-40, while gainers were led by banks as Credit Agricole (Euronext: ACA) added 3.57 percent and BNP Paribas (Euronext: BNP) was 2.31 percent higher.

Over on the Dax chipmaker Infineon (FWB: IFX) led gains as it added 3.46 percent, while there were only 4 decliners on the session.

Asia-Pacific region markets were mixed on the session.

Tokyo markets were lower as the Bank of Japan began a two-day meeting to consider monetary policy and how to deal with deflation.

The Nikkei 225 was down 0.28 percent to 10,721.71 and the Topix index dropped 0.09 percent to 938.1, but the Mothers market managed a gain of 0.29 percent to 426.07.

Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) added 1.3 percent after it said it could not substantiate the claims of a Prius owner in California who said his car had sped out of control on a freeway last week, while Sony Financial Holdings Inc (TYOL 8729) gained 14 percent after it said it will increase its bond holdings to replace riskier assets.

Shippers reversed course from Monday’s gains as Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (TYO: 9107) dropped 0.56 percent and Mitsui OSK Lines (TYO: 9104) fell 0.95 percent.

Other decliners in the region included the Kospi, which was down 0.09 percent to 1,648.01 while the Hang Seng was 0.27 percent lower to 21,022.93.

Australia’s markets were up as the Sydney Ordinaries added 0.2 percent to 4,809.1 and the S&P/ASX200 gained 0.27 percent to 4,797.2.

The Shanghai Composite was up 0.53 percent to 2,992.84, the Straits Times Index added 0.77 percent to 2,896.43, the Taiex was 0.8 percent higher to 7,695.63 and the Sensex gained 1.27 percent to 17,383.18.

New York markets were higher in early afternoon trading, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s scheduled decision on US interest rates.

It is widely believed that the Fed will hold rates steady for the time being.

At nearly 1:30 p.m. in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.16 percent to 10,659.46 while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite had each added 0.4 percent, to 1,155.09 and 2,371.76 respectively.

Crude oil prices were up in afternoon trade in New York, with West Texas Intermediate crude for April back above $81 per barrel, while metals prices were also higher.

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