Liberty International leads winners on FTSE 100

Equities markets were mixed in Europe Thursday, on a day that both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank held interest rates steady, at 0.5 percent and 1 percent respectively.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.08 percent to 4,386.04 but the FTSE 250 dropped 0.37 percent to 7,660.07.

Gains came in the real estate sector, where Liberty International (LSE: LII) lead winners on the 100 with a gain of 12 percent while Hammerson (LSE: HMSO) was up 9.29 percent and British Land (LSE: BLND) gained 3.76 percent.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.18 percent to 866.56 and the IBEX dropped 0.11 percent to 8,454.6, but the CAC-40 added 0.07 percent to 3,312.03 while the Dax gained 0.2 percent to 5,064.8.

Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region were lower, with the main exception being India’s Sensex, which added 0.93 percent to 15,008.68.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.75 percent to 9,668.96 while the Topix index fell 0.38 percent to 910.99 and the Mothers market dropped 0.94 percent to 398.23.

The Hang Seng fell 0.4 percent to 18,502.77 while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.41 percent to 2,767.34, the Straits Times Index was 0.88 percent lower to 2,362.74, and the Taiex dropped 1.55 percent to 6,786.06.

In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries fell 1.92 percent to 3,932.5 and the S&P/ASX200 was down 2.06 percent to 3,934.6, while the Kospi dropped 2.6 percent to 1,378.14 in South Korea.

In early afternoon trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.69 percent to 8,735 while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.98 percent to 1,843.8 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.97 percent to 940.76.

Prices for commodities from crude oil to base and precious metals to grains were all higher on the session.

The euro strengthened and the pound was weaker after both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England held interest rates steady for the present.

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