Global equity market staging a decent......>

EQUITIES: Global equity market staging a decent turnaround here, with Spain now

the firm outperformer as the IBEX-35 trades higher by as much as 5%. This

follows various reports of state support from the Spanish government amounting

to EUR 200bln in direct stimulus. The package includes a moratorium on mortgage

payments for certain borrowers as well as guarantees surrounding utilities and

telecoms providers. Spanish bonds also took the news relatively well, with the

first Bono future recovering slightly off the low (although the SP/GE spread

remains wider).

- Elsewhere, after a now typically volatile open, US indices are well off the

shaky start and now trade higher by 2-4%. Tech firms are now outperforming in

the US, with the NASDAQ gain now outstripping the S&P500 and Dow Jones in cash

markets.