Europe gains while US holidays
The US markets were closed for the Martin Luther King holiday
European Markets
Most European markets made ground Monday, recovering losses from Friday. The market was buoyed by general economic optimism, stronger M&A activity led by the tussle to buy out Cadbury and higher base metals prices.
The UK benchmark FTSE 100 added 39.02, or 0.72% to 5,494.39. Germany’s DAX climbed 42.58, or 0.72% to 5,918.55, while the French CAC40 climbed 23.08, or 0.58% to 3,977.46.
Looking around the banks, Barclays added 2.1%, while Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland put 3.2% and 1.4%.
Germany’s Deutsche Bank added 0.6%, while French banks bucked the trend. BNP Paribas and Societe Generale dipped 0.3% and 1.15 respectively.
In Greece, which continues to face economic woes, banks were hit by another round of sell-offs.
In that country, Alpha Bank and Bank of Piraeus slumped 2.7% and 7.7%.
Miners benefited from higher prices, with Aussie peers Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton climbing 0.9% and 1.5% for their UK listings.
Kazakhmys rose 2.5% and Xstrata put on 2.4%.
While the takeover continues to swirl around Cadbury, its shares rose another 1.5% in London as investors anticipate Kraft increasing its offer for the chocolate maker.
Among the pharmaceuticals, Novartis added nearly 2% on a broker upgrade, while German cosmetics giant L’Oreal added 1.8% after Deutsche Bank raised it rating on the stock to ‘buy’.
Japanese Markets
The Japanese broad-based Topix retreated for just the second day this year. The falls came on concerns over the banking stocks and a weaker commodity prices.
The Nikkei 225 lost 127.02, or 1.16% to 10,855.08.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and smaller rival Mizhuo both fell 1.6%, prompted by losses posted last week by US giant JPMorgan.
Commodity trading houses, Sumitomo and Mitsubishi Corp shed 1.6% and 2.8% respectively.
Despite gains last Friday, the automakers were once again out of favour with Nissan down 2.6% and Toyota off 0.2%.
Consumer electronic giant Sony was 0.7% above the line, while Panasonic retreated 1.2%.
Hong Kong Markets
Hong Kong stocks tracked Wall Street Monday to close lower for the fifth consecutive session. Investors were concerned after JPMorgan reported a quarterly loss in retail banking for the first time since the first quarter of 2008.
The Hang Seng lost 194.15, or 0.90% to 21,460.01.
Among the banks HSBC and Bank of China slid 1.6% and 1.5%, while China Merchants Bank fell 2.7%.
Cnooc and PetroChina shed 2% and 1.3% as the price of crude weakened.
Lonking Holdings dropped 4.1% after Credit Suisse downgraded its rating on the earthmoving equipment maker’s stock.
China Overseas Land & Investment and Shimao Property lost 1.6% and 2.3%.
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