Connaught drops 69 percent on debt outlook

European equities markets were higher Monday, helped by gains for banks after most European banks had passed stress tests, with only 7 banks failing out of the 91 tested across the region, while the news that US new home sales were up 24 percent in June from May also helped sentiment.

The FTSE 100 was 0.72 percent higher to 5,351.12 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 0.44 percent to 10,138.12.

Facilities manager Connaught (LSE: CNT), however, fell significantly, dropping 68.95 percent on the 250 on it net debt outlook and a desperate need for funding.

The best performance of the day also came from the 250, where Pace (LSE: PIC), which makes cable TV set-top boxes added 14.13 percent after it said that pre-tax profits were up 46 percent in the first half and on mergers and acquisitions news.

Over on the 100, publisher Pearson (LSE: PSON) added 5.76 percent for the best performance on the index, while African Barrick Gold (LSE: ABG) dropped the most and did worst in the mining sector as it dropped 3.66 percent.

Most miners were higher, but several other gold miners joined ABG in declines, including both Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) and Randgold Resources (LSE: RRS), which also made the list of top five losers on the 100, dropping 2.57 percent and 1.91 percent respectively, and Petropavlovsk (LSE: POG), which was down 0.55 percent on the 250.

The energy sector was mixed, with Afren (LSE: AFR) adding 5.83 percent for the best performance in the sector, while BG Group (LSE: BG) was down 1.43 percent for the sector’s worst result of the session.

Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) was 5 percent higher after it said it has made a major oil discovery in Ghana and on a reiteration of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s “buy” recommendation as it raised the oil explorer’s target share price, while BP (LSE: BP) added 4.54 percent on the prospect that CEO Tony Hayward might be leaving.

Smith & Nephew (LSE: SN) dropped 1.8 percent and turned in the worst performance of the session in the health care sector, while drug maker GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) dropped 1.26 percetn on an unconfirmed report that it has approached US-based biotechnology group Genzyme Corp (NAS: GENZ).

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.37 percent to 1,048.15 while the Dax added 0.45 percent to 6,194.21, the CAC-40 was 0.18 percent higher to 3,636.18 and the IBEX gained 1.14 percent to 10,506.7.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher, with gains coming on the news that most European banks passed stress tests, although some doubt about how credible the tests were held gains down.

The Nikkei 225 added 0.77 percent to 9,503.66 in Tokyo, while the Topix index was up 0.55 percent to 845.88 and the Mothers market gained 1,85 percent to 396.71 in very light trade.

Aside from the news concerning European banks, Japanese exporters were helped by a weaker yen.

Hitachi Ltd (TYO: 6501), which gains 40 percent of its revenues from overseas, added 1.18 percent, while industrial robot manufacturer Fanuc (TYO: 6954), which earns 80 percent of its revenues through exports, was up 1.65 percent.

Camera and copier maker Canon (TYO: 7751) was 2.47 percent higher while camera manufacturer Olympus (TYO: 7733) was up 1.7 percent.

Among carmakers, Toyota Motor (TYO: 7203) added 0.2 percent, but Suzuki Motor (TYO: 7269) dropped 3.2 percent after an Indian car manufacturer it owns a majority share in saw profits fall 20 percent in the second quarter.

Inpex Corp (TYO: 1605) was up 4.88 percent after Deutsche Bank repeated its “buy” recommendation on the oil company.

Other gainers in the region included the Hang Seng, which added 0.12 percent to 20,839.91, while the Taiex was 0.34 percent higher to 7,787.45, and the Kospi was up 0.63 percent to 1,769.07.

The S&P/ASX200 added 0.62 percent to 4,486.1 in Australia, while the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.65 percent to 4,504.4.

The Shanghai Composite was also up 0.65 percent, to 2,588.68.

The Straits Times Index was 0.22 percent lower to 2,966.99 in Singapore, while India’s Sensex dropped 0.61 percent to 18,020.05.

New York markets were higher in early afternoon trade, helped the report from the Commerce Department that new home sales were up significantly in June, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.51 percent to 10,478.13 at just before 1 p.m., while at the same time the S&P 500 had added 0.72 percent to 1,110.64 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.65 percent higher to 2,284.31.

Midday trade saw crude oil prices down slightly, while among metals prices silver and copper had both advanced but gold was down by nearly $6 per troy ounce.

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