Greater London, England -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/30/2010 -- Nick Serff, Market Analyst at financial spread betting provider City Index (http://www.cityindex.co.uk), delivers his market update for 22nd November:

"Equity markets started this morning in a positive mood as investors appeared content with the weekend press regarding the extent of Ireland’s imminent bailout. Markets opened up strong across Europe as mining and banking stocks led the way - the FTSE 100 making a high of 5783 (+50 points), with its European counterparts also posting highs early morning. The DAX was at 6901 and the CAC 40 was at 3896.

Miners were strong across the board with Vedanta adding 51p (+2.4%), Xstrata up 20p (+1.5%) and Kazakhmys up 24p (1.5%). UK banks which, as is widely reported, have large exposure to Ireland’s banking system, appear buoyed with the efforts of European powers to stabilise the fragile Irish banking system. HSBC was up at 660p (+2.5p) after posting an early morning high of 665p (+7.5p). Lloyds was trading around 67p, relatively unchanged on the day; even Royal Bank of Scotland, which has considerable exposure to Ireland, was up fractionally on the day and trading around 42p.

However, as rumours regarding the details of Ireland’s bailout swirled around the market, the positive tone subsided and caution has returned. As we speak, equity markets have given up a lot of their early morning gains whilst waiting for any concrete news from Ireland. Also, without any real macro data from either side of the pond today, it looks as though caution will win the day."

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