European markets are calm the day before the UK election but the euro has taken a tumble on the news that the ECB could downgrade inflation at the central bank meeting on Thursday.
The UK polls open up on Thursday so the markets in London are rather flat in anticipation of the results. The polls are pointing towards a conservative victory but polls in Britain have never been entirely accurate and the gap has been closing since the election was called. The IG spread on the digital 100 shows a 42-seat majority for the conservative party.
Spain’s Banco Popular has been acquired for one single euro by Santander, creating the country's largest bank. Shares of Banco Popular have more than halved year-to-date. Bad loans have been the main cause for such a decline, leaving its liquidity dangerously low, with a collapse believed to have been imminent.
Thursday is also ex-dividend day for the UK bourses – on the FTSE100 there’s advertising giant WPP, Associated British foods which is the parent company of budget retailer Primark and telecom Vodafone. And on the FTSE250 Booker Group.
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--- Written by Katie Pilbeam, DailyFX
