BLOOMBERG (U.S.), EL MUNDO (Spain)
MADRID – European markets got a boost following Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s confirmation that Spain received 100 billion euros ($125 billion) from the European Union to rescue a major chunk of its banking sector.
The rebound in Monday trading was described as “euphoria” in the Spanish press. According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the European aid “strengthens Spanish reliability” and “is approved by all investors,” hence the promising European Stock Exchange opening.
“Now we can breathe, after one week of suffocation. But we can’t speak about serenity, because a lot remains to be done in the following weeks,” warns Alberto Roldán, a financial analyst for the Spanish brokerage firm Inverseguros.
Bloomberg reports that Spanish bank shares benefited most from the news: “Banco Santander SA (SAN), Spain’s biggest bank, jumped as much as 9.7 percent … in Madrid trading. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, the nation’s second-largest lender, climbed as much as 10 percent.”
