LONDON (ShareCast) - - Stocks lose gains after strong start
- Spanish requests up to 100bn for troubled banks
- Investors eye Greek elections

The Footsie finished flat on Monday despite surging from the off after the initial euphoria over a Spanish request for European aid faded quickly.

Equity markets across the continent opened strongly this morning after Spain requested a credit line of up to €100bn to help recapitalise its banks, but gains for stocks were quickly pared as the markets digested what this would mean in the longer term. The official request will not be made until after independent auditors have published their evaluations on June 21st.

Most European bourses ended in the red, with the exception of Frankfurt’s Dax. Even Madrid’s Ibex finished in negative territory despite jumping by 5% in the opening hour.

Unlike previous sovereign rescues (in Ireland, Portugal and Greece), there will not be any new austerity packages or reforms tied to this package. However, RBS’s chief economist Andrew McLaughlin highlights that this money isn’t for nothing: “The bailout is borrowed funds and Spain’s government debt will rise accordingly. And will it bring the crisis to a halt? This is highly unlikely.”

“There is still the Greece election this coming weekend and beyond this no shortage of concerns and areas of vulnerability throughout the Eurozone. This crisis will rumble on,” he said.

Simon Maughan, a financial industry analyst at Olivetree Securities in London, said that this is a “wonderful opportunity” for Spain “but I’m afraid they’re going to squander it” […] "If this money actually goes into the banks and allows for proper write-downs, then great - but if just sits on their balance sheets, the uncertainty will continue."

FTSE 100: Banks pare gains, miners drop

Strong gains for banks were quickly trimmed as the uncertain outlook in the Eurozone dampened sentiment. Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays finished with slight gains while RBS closed lower. Miners were on the rise early on but were among the worst performers by the end of trade with ENRC, Fresnillo, Evraz and Kazakhmys suffering heavy falls.

Commodities producer and marketer Glencore was in demand despite the future of its merger with Xstrata looking cloudy. There were rumours today that shareholders may vote against the potential combination due to a question over executive remuneration. Ivan Glasenberg, the group’s CEO, today bought 2.38m shares for a total of £10m.

Engineering group GKN was a high riser after its Aerospace division was awarded a contract by US aircraft maker Boeing at the weekend to supply complex machined titanium and aluminium parts and assemblies for the horizontal stabiliser of the 787-9 Dreamliner.

Supermarket giant Tesco edged lower despite some in-line first-quarter figures. UK sales including VAT and petrol grew by 2.1% in the 13 weeks to May 26th, but like-for-like sales (excluding VAT and petrol) fell by 1.5%.

FTSE 250: Aquarius falls after halting operations at Marikana

Aquarius Platinum slumped after saying that its operations with its Marikana Pooling and Sharing Agreement in South Africa are being put on hold as a result of the ongoing low PGM (platinum group metals) basket price. "Trading conditions in the platinum industry are expected to remain difficult in the short to medium term and these conditions have rendered the operations at the P&SA2 uneconomic," the company said.

Energy markets-focused engineer Lamprell also dropped, extending losses following Thursday’s profit warning, its second in three week. Investec halved its target price for the stock from 200p to 100p today, saying “We believe management are tainted by a track record of cost overruns and poor profitability."


FTSE 100 - Risers
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 28.50p +1.73%
Glencore International (GLEN) 363.55p +1.61%
BP (BP.) 414.90p +1.43%
Wolseley (WOS) 2,241.00p +1.36%
Schroders (SDR) 1,246.00p +1.30%
Old Mutual (OML) 148.80p +1.16%
Pearson (PSON) 1,167.00p +1.13%
Serco Group (SRP) 546.00p +1.11%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 640.00p +1.03%
GKN (GKN) 183.40p +0.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 406.80p -4.01%
Man Group (EMG) 76.70p -3.94%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,396.00p -3.19%
Evraz (EVR) 272.60p -2.36%
Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 194.50p -1.97%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 692.50p -1.77%
British Land Co (BLND) 481.20p -1.47%
Hammerson (HMSO) 409.90p -1.35%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 707.50p -1.32%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,298.00p -1.29%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Telecom Plus (TEP) 797.00p +3.51%
Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 463.00p +3.46%
Spirent Communications (SPT) 163.00p +2.97%
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 74.45p +2.69%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 97.40p +2.63%
Dixons Retail (DXNS) 13.00p +2.60%
PayPoint (PAY) 725.00p +2.55%
Genus (GNS) 1,271.00p +2.33%
Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 164.60p +2.24%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 222.00p +2.12%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 65.50p -10.88%
Lamprell (LAM) 78.75p -6.80%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 306.30p -6.07%
Exillon Energy (EXI) 91.00p -5.85%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 67.10p -5.56%
Avocet Mining (AVM) 148.50p -5.41%
Kenmare Resources (KMR) 43.66p -5.09%
Supergroup (SGP) 280.50p -4.88%
Ruspetro (RPO) 147.50p -4.84%
Kesa Electricals (KESA) 47.50p -4.64%

BC

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