Spain lags but markets shrug off Ophelia

SPANISH stocks lagged behind a broadly flat European market on Monday as the Catalonia crisis and a profit warning from renewables energy firm Siemens Gamesa weighed.

Spain’s main IBEX share index fell 0.7pc while the pan-European STOXX 600 benchmark added 0.01pc, staying near the four-month highs hit last week as optimism over global growth offset growing political worries.

“Spanish stocks have come under pressure again”, said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson after Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont failed to clarify whether he had declared independence from Spain last week, possibly paving the way for the central government to take control of the wealthy region.

Spanish banks Caixa, Sabadell and BBVA took some of the heat, falling between 1.7pc and 2.8pc but Siemens Gamesa was the top loser, down 6.3pc after it warned on profit on Friday.

Top faller on the STOXX was Conva Tec, which posted a dramatic 26.6pc collapse after the British medical-technology company cut its full-year organic revenue growth forecast.

A sales warning also sent shares in Husqvarna down 4.9pc.

At home, the ISEQ index was down a relatively small 0.54pc at 6813.52, despite significant commercial disruption associated with Hurricane Ophelia.

Insurer FBD’s shares were down almost 1pc. On the winners’ side, France’s Ipsen closed with a 6.1pc rise after reporting positive news on a liver cancer clinical trial.

Germany’s Hochtief rose 3.5pc after an upgrade to “buy” from Bankhaus Lampe on prospects of a potential acquisition of Spanish motorway firm Abertis in a takeover battle with Italy’s Atlantia.