-Troika will resume talks with Greece in 1 week´s time
-Spain may accelerate pension system reform
-Spain in contingency planning with European officials
-Nobody wants Greece to leave euro, but country must comply -Schaeuble
-Italy/Spain will only ask for rescue if water up to their necks-Bbg
-Spanish 10 year bond yield down 1 basis point to 5.76%

FTSE-100: -0.03%
Dax-30: 0.84%
Cac-40: 0.59%
FTSE-Mibtel 30: 1.02%
Ibex 35: 2.60%
Stoxx 600: 0.47%

The main European equity benchmarks finished clearly in the blue for the most part, especially the ever volatile Spanish Ibex 35.

That following the appearance of various news reports according to which Spain may be laying the groundwork for an eventual petition for an aid package or, at the least, planning to move forward with further structural reforms.

EU authorities are busy working behind the scenes, helping Madrid to craft an economic reform programme that will be unveiled next week, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

In a similar vein, Reuters said that Spain is planning to accelerate the reform of its country´s pensions system, by moving more quickly to increase the retirement age and by eliminating inflation indexing. The measures could save Madrid at least 4bn euros a year, economists estimate.

On the basis of market commentary out today, the above news-flow seems to be adding to the already improved sentiment regarding the outlook for the Eurozone. In this regard -for example- James Mackintosh wrote in today´s Financial Times that: "Many hedge funds insist that France is the next Italy. But with an ECB backstop, perhaps Italy is the next France."

Somewhat curiously however, all of the above has coincided with what -for today´s standards- is an unusual chorus of optimistic forecasts from various well-known economists.

Even so, Spain continues to be a source of concern for the markets, as is Greece. As regards the former, Goldman Sachs Asset Management´s Jim O´Neill was cited in the Spanish press today (in the daily Expansión) as warning of the potential risks arising from irredentist movements in Spain´s regions. The same newspaper also comments on the risk -as perceived by some investors- that Moody´s could voice a negative opinion on the country´s debt ratings next week.

The Belgian business confidence index for the month of September improved slightly, to -11.6 points (Consensus: -11.3), after -11.8 in the month before.

M&A still on going

German athletic goods manufacturer Adidas has slashed its 2015 sales target for its struggling unit Reebok to €2bn from €3bn after losing a major American football contract.

The world's largest agricultural firm, Swiss outfit Syngenta, will acquire Belgian hybrid seed firm Devgen for €403m, as it seeks to expand its footprint in rice-growing.

From a sector stand-point the best performance within the DJ Stoxx 600 is now to be seen in the following industrial groups: Automobiles (1.75%), Banks (1.36%) and Telecommunications (1.22%).

Euro and oil rise in tandem

The euro/dollar is now up by 0.26% to the 1.30 dollar mark.

Front month Brent crude futures are now up by 1.186 dollars to the 111.24 dollar level on the ICE.

AB

Related share prices