London equities markets gain on data
London equities markets were higher Tuesday on positive economic data from both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the British Retail Consortium as house prices in the UK rose to their highest level in nine months and retail sales increased in April.
The FTSE 100 added 1.28 percent to 1,149.39, while the FTSE 250 was up 1.34 percent to 12,055.2 although corporate results were mixed.
Homebuilders were up, led by Berkeley Group Holdings (LSE: BKG), which added 3.59 percent after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said home prices in the UK were at their highest in nine months in April as demand for homes stabilized, while retailers were higher as retail sales went up last month, miners and the energy sector both saw gains, and the travel and leisure sector was up on gains for hotels operators, although travel agents were mixed.
Despite the gains, cable-TV set-top box maker Pace plc (LSE: PIC) dropped 39.18 percent on a profit warning.
Elsewhere in the region, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.8 percent to 1,149.39 while the IBEX added 0.75 percent to 10,474.4, the CAC-40 was 1.13 percent higher to 4,052.51 and the Dax gained 1.23 percent to 7,501.52, with gains helped by corporate results.
Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed on the session.
The Nikkei 225 added 0.25 percent to 9,818.76 in Tokyo, while the Topix index was up 0.38 percent to 856.46 and the Mothers market gained 1 percent to 478.22 on corporate results, but businesses that get a major part of their revenue from Europe, including some game manufacturers and camera makers, were hurt by a downgrade of Greece’s credit rating, while a carmaker gained on reports that it could return to full production soon and a chipmaker was up on a prediction of record earnings.
Other gainers in the region included the Straits Times Index, which was up 0.62 percent to 3,156.26 in Singapore, while the Shanghai Composite was 0.63 percent higher to 2,890.63 and the Hang Seng gained 0.76 percent to 23,336 in Hong Kong.
Among decliners in the region were India’s Sensex, down 0.09 percent to 18,512.8, while the Taiex fell 0.14 percent to 9,023.28 in Taiwan, and Australia’s markets declined ahead of the release of the country’s new budget, with the Sydney Ordinaries down 0.58 percent to 4,803.6 while the S&P/ASX200 dropped 0.65 percent to 4,725.8 and South Korea’s markets were closed in observance of Buddha’s Birthday.
Wall Street advanced in midday trade after China reported a trade surplus of $11.4 billion on record exports, raising optimism about economy growth globally, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.37 percent to 12,731.2 while the S&P 500 had gained 0.51 percent to 1,353.19 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.53 percent higher to 2,858.38.
Prices for crude oil and metals were higher at midday in New York.
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