Carmakers gain in Europe

Asia-Pacific equities markets were mixed to close out the week. In China, the Shanghai Composite was back after recent declines, adding 4.6 percent on the session to close at 3.781.17. The gains came after a decline of 5 percent on Thursday and were helped by gains in the financial sector. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong also saw a substantial gain as it added 1.25 percent to 22,531.74. Other gainers included the Sensex, which added 0.69 percent to close at 14,964.12 in India, and the Straits Times index in Singapore, which managed a gain of 0.01 percent to 3,561.96. The Sydney Ordinaries, on the other hand dropped 0.14 percent to 6,383. The S&P/ASX200 was also lower, closing at 6,351.1.

There were declines in Tokyo as well, with the Nikkei 225 0.4 percent lower to 18,140.94. The Topix index fell 0.5 percent to 1,779.67. The real estate sector declined after government bond yields advanced, with Mitsubishi Estate (TYO: 8802) and Sumitomo Realty & Development (TYO: 8830) each dropping 1.5 percent, to ¥3,370 and ¥3,990 respectively. Declines in the retail sector continued as Seven & I (TYO: 3382) fell 0.8 percent to ¥3,570 even though it said profits were 6 percent higher in the three months ending in May compared to the same period last year. TV Tokyo (TYO: 9411) was 5.3 percent lower to ¥4,090 after its second largest shareholder said he would sell his 12.5 percent stake in the broadcaster.

In Europe, equities markets saw gains. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 gained 0.57 percent to 1,618.9. In Paris, the CAC-40 was 0.71 percent higher to 6,102.69, while the Dax added 0.77 percent to 8,048.32 in Frankfurt. In Madrid, the IBEX was up 1.01 percent to 15,058.3. Carmakers were higher. Volkswagen (FWB: VOW; OTC: VLKAY) was 1.45 percent higher to €123.88, while BMW (FWB: BMW) gained 1.89 percent to €41.22 and Renault (Euronext: RNO) was up 2.12 percent to €120.17. Peugeot (Euronext: UG; OTC: PEUGY) was the session’s best performer on the CAC-40 with a gain of 5.84 percent to €65.03. Steelmaker ThyssenKrupp (FWB: TKA; LSE: THK) had the best day on the Dax as it added 3.96 percent to €45.41. Poorest performances on the day included engineering group Siemens (FWB: SIE; NYSE: SI) with a decline of 0.77 percent to €109.08 on the Dax and Gaz de France (Euronext: GAZ), which dropped 1.96 percent to €37.11 in Paris. Other losers on the day included insurer Allianz (FWB: ALV; NYSE: AZ), down 0.04 percent to €170.94 and Air France (Euronext: AF; NSYE: AKH), which was 1.61 percent lower to €33.54.

The London markets were higher as well, with the FTSE 100 0.83 percent higher to 6,690.1. The FTSE 250 added 0.55 percent to 11,867.3. The oil sector was higher on short supplies and continuing worries about the situation in Nigeria. BP (LSE: BP; NYSE: BP; TYO: 5051) was 1.08 percent higher to 610p, while BG Group (LSE: BG; NYSE: BG) added 1.97 percent to 829p. Royal Dutch Shell’s (LSE: RDSA, RDSB; NYSE: RDS A, RDS B) A shares gained 2.87 percent to £21.15 after it said that it will begin once again to drill in the Arctic. Miners also saw gains. Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO) added 2.63 percent to 663.5p, while Xstrata (LSE: XTA) was 3.03 percent higher to £32.66 and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) gained 3.15 percent to £17.01. BHP Billiton (LSE:BLT; ASX: BHP; NYSE: BHP) had the best day on the 100, adding 3.69 percent to £15.16. Gainers on the 250 included kitchen equipment manufacturer Aga Foodservice (LSE: AGA), which was 7 percent higher to 412.5p after it said it is thinking about selling its commercial division. Decliners on the 100 included Intercontinental Hotels (LSE: IHG; NYSE: IHG), which was down 1.37 percent to £12.98. In the business services sector, Experian (LSE: EXPN) dropped 1.58 percent to 623.5p for the worst performance of the day on the 100.

In early afternoon trade on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.18 percent higher to 13,590.44. The Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.09 percent to 2,659.17, while the S&P 500 was up 0.07 percent to 1,526.53. Investors welcomed new figures from the Labor Department that June’s unemployment rate in the US held at 4.5 percent and 132,000 new jobs were created in the month. The news that Advanced Medical Optics (NYSE: EYE) had bid more than private equity for rival eye-care products group Bausch & Lomb (NYSE: BOL) sent shares in both lower. Advanced Medical Optics dropped 96 cents to $34.93, while Bausch & Lomb was 16 cents lower to $71.84. The pharmaceuticals sector was lower on the session. Schering-Plough (NYSE: SGP) dropped 2 cents to $30.55, while Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) fell 13 cents to $25.77 and Merck was 61 cents lower to $49.21. Retailers were higher, however. Discount retailer Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) added 25 cents to $48.34, while home improvement retailer Home Depot (NYSE: HD) gained 50 cents to $40.33. Macy’s (NYSE: M) was $1.75 higher to $41.52 and Target (NYSE: TGT) was up $2.67 to $66.88.