FTSE Indexes were up on Monday despite global losses from lower economic data. The FTSE 100 gained 12.90 points or 0.21 percent to close at 6,151.40. The FTSE 250 was higher by 49.02 points or 0.29 percent to close at 16,699.32.
Source: FTSE 100 and FTSE 250. Google Finance.
In Europe, stocks closed higher on Monday managing to avoid affects from lower manufacturing data in the U.S. and disappointing data from China. In the U.S., the Empire State Manufacturing Index fell far below expectations at -9.02 versus consensus of 7.00. In China, industrial output increased by 6 percent, year-over-year in April, missing estimates of 6.6 percent and falling below the previous month’s reading of 6.8 percent. Retail sales in China were also lower than expectations with a year-over-year increase of 10.1 percent in April and down from 10.5 percent in March.
In Europe, mining stocks were the main factor helping to keep index gains above zero for the day. Mining stocks were higher as oil prices gained. Anglo American, BHP Billiton and BP led gains for the day. Anglo American closed at 609.58 GBX with a gain of 31.38 points or 5.43 percent. BHP Billiton closed at 851.16 GBX for a gain of 28.36 points or 3.45 percent. BP was higher by 2.49 points to close at 364.99 GBX for a gain of 0.69 percent.
Data from IFA magazine reported the following stocks leading gains in the U.K. on Monday.
Anglo American (AAL) 5.02 percent
Fresnillo (FRES) 2.96 percent
Antofagasta (ANTO) 2.94 percent
Tesco (TSCO) 2.41 percent
Glencore (GLEN) 1.33 percent
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 1.16 percent
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 0.77 percent
BHP Billiton (BLT) 0.69 percent
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 0.65 percent
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 0.64 percent
In other European markets, France’s CAC 40 was down -7.71 points or -0.18 percent to close at 4,312.28. The Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.05 points or 0.01 percent to close at 334.73. The Europe Dow was higher on Monday closing at 1,533.11 for a gain of 2.22 points or 0.15 percent. Germany’s DAX was closed Monday for a holiday and on Friday finished at 9,952.90 for a gain of 90.78 points or 0.92 percent.
In Asia, stocks were mostly higher. In China, the Shanghai Composite was higher by 23.75 points or 0.84 percent to close at 2,850.86. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was higher by 164.66 points or 0.84 percent to close at 19,883.95. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 54.19 points or 0.33 percent to close at 16,466.40. The S&P BSE Sensex was higher by 163.66 points or 0.64 percent to close at 25,653.23 and India’s NSE Nifty was higher by 45.85 points or 0.59 percent to close at 7,860.75. As a broad market measure, the Asia Dow was higher by 2.92 points or 0.11 percent to close at 2,582.79.
In the U.S., stocks traded mostly higher regaining some of last week’s losses despite the day’s data reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 17,710.71 for a gain of 175.39 points or 1.00 percent. The S&P 500 closed at 2,066.66 for a gain of 20.05 points or 0.98 percent. The Nasdaq Composite also gained at 4,775.46 for a gain of 57.78 points or 1.22 percent.