Brewer SABMiller up 5 percent on higher profits

European equities markets were higher Thursday on the likelihood that Ireland will get a bailout for its banks to the tune of tens of billions of euros, and after an index of leading indicators was up for a fourth consecutive month in the United States and the US Labor Department reported that fewer Americans filed first-time claims for unemployment benefits last week.

The FTSE 100 was up 1.34 percent to 5,768.71 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 1.22 percent to 10,844.4.

Brewer SABMiller (LSE: SAB) added 5.12 percent to lead gains on the 100 after it reported that its profits were up by 15 percent in the first half, while defense technology company QinetiQ Group (LSE: QQ) was the best performer on the 250, adding 13.64 percent on first-half earnings that were above analysts’ predictions and ahead of earnings in the same period last year.

Basic resources companies, including miners, were higher, led by gold and silver miner Fresnillo (LSE: FRES) with a gain of 5.05 percent, while there were only two decliners in the sector as papermaker Mondi (LSE: MNDI) fell 1.88 percent and African Barrick Gold (LSE: ABG) dropped 0.83 percent.

The energy sector was also mostly higher, led in gains by oil and gas engineering and well support company John Wood Group (LSE: WG), which was up 2.68 percent, while the four decliners in the sector were led by oil rig builder and refurbisher Lamprell (LSE: LAM), which led declines on the 250 as it fell 13.74 percent.

The worst performer on the 100, meanwhile, was product inspection, testing and certification firm Intertek Group (SLE: ITRK), which was 6.26 percent lower on the session.

The travel and leisure sector was mostly higher, led by online gambler PartyGaming (LSE: PRTY), which was up 5.55 percent, followed by a 4.4 percent gain for British Airways (LSE: BAY) after French airline Air France-KLM (Euronext: AF) raised its outlook on profits.

Business processing outsourcer Capita Group (LSE: CPI), which administers television licenses for the BBC, was down 4.43 percent after it said that budget cuts by the government were hurting sales of the licenses.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.34 percent to 1,107.07 while the IBEX added 1.33 percent to 10,3253, the Dax was 1.97 percent higher to 6,832.11 and the CAC-40 gained 1.99 percent to 3,867.97.

There were no decliners on the Dax and only one decline on the CAC-40.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific region were higher as investors had fewer worries about China’s measures to curb inflation after it looked as if the government there would concentrate on controlling prices in specific sectors rather than imposing broader controls to cool the economy.

The Nikkei 225 was up 2.06 percent to 10,013.6 in Tokyo, while the Topix index added 2.18 percent to 868.81 and the Mothers market gained 1.05 percent to 372.3.

Banks and brokers made significant gains as Mitsubishi UFJ (TYO: 8306) added 4.3 percent, while Mizuho Securities (TYO: 8606) was up 6.99 percent, Shinsei Bank (TYO: 8303) was 7.14 percent higher and Resona Holdings (TYO: 8308) gained 9.17 percent.

Exporters were higher as the yen weakened versus the euro.

Watchmaker Citizen Holdings (TYO; 7762) was up 1.17 percent, camera and copier maker Canon (TYO: 7751) was 1.26 percent higher, consumer electronics manufacturer Sony (TYO: 6758) added 2.19 percent and optics and imaging group Olympus Corp (TYO; 7733) gained 2.85 percent.

The Straits Times Index was 0.1 percent higher to 3,215.22 in Singapore and India’s Sensex added 0.33 percent to 19,930.6 after both returned to trade after holidays yesterday, while the Taiex was up 0.34 percent to 8,283.45 in Taiwan.

In Australia, the SP/ASX200 was also 0.34 percent higher, to 4,640.2 while the Sydney Ordinaries gained 0.38 percent to 4,722.8.

The Shanghai Composite added 0.94 percent to 2,865.45 in China, South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.62 percent to 1,927.86 and the Hang Seng gained 1.82 percent to 23,637.4 in Hong Kong.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.68 percent to 11,193.1 at just before 1 p.m. local time, while at the same time the SP 500 had added 1.84 percent to 1,200.26 and the Nasdaq Composite was 2 percent higher to 2,525.44.

Crude oil prices were higher in New York and London, while metals prices were up as gold added $13.70 per troy ounce in early afternoon trade in New York.