European shares steady as banks turns positive after May speech

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17/01/2017 14:02

* Pan-European STOXX index up 0.1 pct; UK's FTSE down 1 pct 
    * Banks, travel stocks lead gainers after May's Brexit 
speech 
    * Miners down, Zalando top faller as sales growth 
disappoints 
 
 (ADVISORY- Follow European and UK stock markets in real time on 
the Reuters Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets) 
 Recasts after May's speech) 
    By Danilo Masoni 
    MILAN, Jan 17 (Reuters) - European shares steadied on 
Tuesday, coming off lows as British Prime Minister Theresa May 
detailed her country's position on leaving the European Union, 
helping banking and travel stocks turn positive. 
    The pan-European STOXX  .STOXX  index was up 0.1 percent, 
having fallen as much as 0.7 percent just before May began 
speaking. Britain's blue-chip FTSE  .FTSE  fell 1 percent to the 
day's low as the sterling surged on May's speech.     
    Concerns over a hard Brexit had weighed strongly on the 
pound helping the FTSE end at record highs earlier this week.  
    May said Britain would leave the EU's single market when it 
exits the EU but promised a parliamentary vote on any deal and 
stressed it would seek to stay a key European 
partner. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1F727C   
    "Markets and sterling moved higher after May said the final 
decision is going to be taken by parliament. That could let 
(investors) assume that hard Brexit may be slightly more soft," 
said Carlo Alberto De Casa, Chief Market Analyst at Activtrades. 
    Europe's banking index  .SX7P  rose 0.8 percent, reversing 
earlier losses and making it the biggest sectoral gainer in 
Europe. Top gainers were UK's Standard Chartered  STAN.L  and 
Royal Bank of Scotland  RBS.L , both up more than 4 percent. 
    "Banking stocks are also performing (well) after May's 
declarations relieved fears of an exodus of UK-based banks, said 
Yann Quelenn, market analyst at Swissquote Bank. 
    "Single market access is key and abandoning would spell the 
end for such institutions to provide services across the EU," he 
said. 
    Italian banks  .FTIT8300  rose 1.8 percent, helped by an 
upbeat note from Goldman Sachs. 
    "Since the Italian referendum, market repair has 
accelerated: while the stock of non-performing loans at banks is 
likely to take time to revert to average levels, a series of 
announcements by banks should be positive steps towards market 
repair," Goldman said in a note. 
    Travel stocks  .SXTP  were also in demand, with the sectoral 
index up 0.7 percent.  
    Lufthansa  LHAG.DE  rose 6 percent, attracting interest 
after an Italian paper reported Abu Dhabi-based Etihad was 
interested in taking a stake in it, while Easyjet  EZJ.L  and 
Ryanair  RYA.I  rose 3.7 and 0.8 percent respectively. 
    May said that maintaining the common travel area with 
Ireland will be a priority.     
    Basic resources stocks  .SXPP  remained weak, down 0.4 
percent, hurt by lower prices. Anglo American  AAL.L  and BHP 
Billiton  BLT.L  both fell more than 2 percent. 
    Shares in German fashion retailer Zalando  ZALG.DE  were the 
biggest STOXX faller, down 6.7 percent after its sales growth 
disappointed expectations.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N1F716E 
 
 (Additional reporting by Helen Reid; Editing by Hugh Lawson) 
 ((Danilo.Masoni@TR.com; +39-02-66129734; Reuters Messaging: 
danilo.masoni.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: EUROPE STOCKS/