Global equities markets see gains on Tuesday

Asia Pacific region equities markets were higher on Tuesday. In Australia, the Sydney Ordinaries added 1.51 percent to 5,997.6, while the S&P/ASX300 closed at 6,013.4, a gain of 97.6 points on the session. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.97 percent to 10,002.7. India’s Sensex partially bounced back from Monday’s losses to gain 1.6 percent to 12,624.58, while the Straits Times index in Singapore was up 1.6 percent to 3,288.36.

The Tokyo markets also saw gains after significant declines on Monday. The Nikkei 225 added 1.3 percent to 17,244.05, while the Topix index also gained 1.3 percent, to close at 1,704.32. Gains were distributed over both domestic and export-focused sectors. In the electronics sector, Sony (TYO: 6758) ended the session 2.4 percent higher to ¥6,000, while Matsushita Electric Industrial (TYO: 6752; NYSE: MC) was up 2.5 percent to ¥2,415. Camera manufacturer Nikon (TYO: 7731) added 4.2 percent to ¥2,630. There were gains in the retail sector after Aeon (TYO: 8267) said it will increase its stake in Posful Corp (TYO: 7512), sending Posful’s shares 10.1 percent higher to ¥479. Elsewhere in the sector, Nishimatsuya gained 6.8 percent to ¥2,115.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 closed 0.91 percent higher to 1,534.90, while in Paris the CAC-40 gained 1.18 percent to 5,711.91 and the Xetra Dax was up 1.56 percent to 7,045.56 in Frankfurt. Utilities were in focus in Europe on the session as Eon (DAX-30: EOA; LSE: EON; NYSE: EON) gave up its efforts to take control of Spanish utility Endsea. The German utility said that it had instead reached agreement with rival bidders Enel ( ISE: ENEL) and Acciona (IBEX-35: ANA) to accumulate a portfolio of assets in Italy, Spain, France, and Turkey worth approximately €10 billion. Endsea was 0.6 percent lower by midday to €40.18, but Enel, Acciona, and Eon all saw gains, adding 1.6 percent to €8.23, 4.2 percent to €169.70, and 7 percent to €109.20. Eon is widely expected to pursue other deals now that it is out of the running to buy Endsea.

In London the FTSE 100 was 0.8 percent higher 6,366.1, while the FTSE 250 gained 1.07 percent to 11,885.5 on the session. Banks were mixed ahead of Thursday’s decision on interest rates by the Bank of England. Decliners included HBOS (LSE: HBOS), which dropped 0.1 percent to £10.43, and Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS; NYSE RBS PRM), down 0.4 percent to £19.80. Some investors worried that RBS might bid for ABN Amro (Euronext: AAB; NYSE: ABN) in competition with Barclays Bank (LSE: BARC; NYSE: BCS; TYO: 8642). Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY) held steady at 567p, while HSBC (LSE: HSBA; NYSE: HBC; Euronext: HSBC; SEHK: 005) gained 0.39 percent to 890p. After some substantial losses on Monday, UK miners were higher. Vedanta (LSE: VED) was 3.2 percent higher to £13.85, while Xstrata (LSE: XTA) gained 3.39 percent to ¥26.84, Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ) added 3.55 percent to £11.96, and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) was up 3.7 percent to £29.95.

Wall Street was higher at mid-session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.96 percent to 12,501.12, a gain of 118.82 points after having been up as much as 131 at one point in the session. The Nasdaq Composite had added 1.29 percent to 2,453.5, and the S&P 500 gained 0.96 percent to 1,437.45. Homebuilders were higher after new figures from the National Association of Realtors showed its pending sales index on existing homes was up to 109.3 in February, an annual gain of 0.7 percent and up from 108.5 in January. Even though the index is 8.5 percent below where it was last year in February, it was still better news than had been anticipated. Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) added 2.5 percent to $27.89, while Pulte Homes (NYSE: PHM) gained 2.9 percent to $27.10. KB Home (NYSE: KBH) was also 2.9 percent higher, to $43.11. The news on home sales also helped do-it-yourself retailer Home Depot (NYSE: HD), which added 2.3 percent to $37.63.