FROM MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD:

U.S. STOCK MARKETS

Closed for Memorial Day.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

While U.S. markets were closed for Memorial Day, European stock markets erased early gains Monday, as bank shares moved lower and pressure intensified on Spanish banks and the country's government bonds.

Stocks had posted solid gains early in the session as investors' risk appetite was boosted after polls in Greece pointed to a victory for the pro-bailout New Democracy party ahead of next month's elections.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed marginally lower at 242.47, after trading as high as 244.58 earlier in the session.

Markets in the U.S. were closed for the Memorial Day holiday, leaving volumes thin in European trading, said Jonathan Bristow, broker at Valbury Capital.

Investors continued to sell Spanish bank shares, with losses weighing on the pan-European index. Shares in Spanish bank Bankia SA dropped 13.4%, after the bank late Friday asked the government for EUR19 billion as part of a bailout plan.

Other Spanish banks followed Bankia lower. Banco Popular Espagnol SA tumbled 7.5% and Bankinter SA lost 4.3%. Standard & Poor's Ratings Services Friday afternoon cut the debt of Bankia, Banco Popular and Bankinter to junk status on concerns about the stability of the country's banking system.

Banco Santander SA fell 3.2%, while BBVA SA dropped 3.4%. The IBEX 35 index trailed other European indexes, falling 2.2% to 6,401.20. Yields on 10-year Spanish government bonds jumped 16 basis points to 6.45%, inching closer to the keenly watched 7%.

In Italy, the government sold EUR3.5 billion of zero-coupon bonds, the upper range of its target, although borrowing costs rose. Italy's FTSE MIB index closed 0.7% lower at 13,057.26.

The Athens General Index jumped 6.9% to 518.49, with National Bank of Greece SA up 6.6%. Weekend reports showed Greece's conservative New Democracy party had swung into first place in polls ahead of the June election, paving the way for a possible coalition government with the socialist party Pasok.

Both parties back the terms of the bailout reform agreed with Greece's creditors. In London, miners struggled to push stocks higher, as most metals prices headed north.

Heavyweight miner BHP Billiton PLC gained 0.8% and Rio Tinto PLC added 2.2%. The FTSE 100 index rose 0.1% to 5,356.34. BP PLC shed 1.9% after Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman resigned as chief executive at joint venture TNK-BP Group.

In France, oil group Total SA lost 0.3%, weighing on the CAC 40 index which fell 0.2% to 3,042.97. Banks were also lower. Societe Generale SA lost 0.7%, while BNP Paribas SA fell 1.1%. The German DAX 30 index slipped 0.3% to 6,323.19, also weighed by the index's banks. Commerzbank AG dropped 3% and Deutsche Bank AG inched 0.8% lower.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

Asian stock markets ended higher Monday after opinion polls in Greece showed a lead for a party favoring the country's economic bailout in upcoming elections, while mainland Chinese shares rallied amid expectations for a policy stimulus.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.2% and Taiwan's Taiex advanced 0.9%. South Korean markets were closed for a holiday.

Overcoming choppy early trade, China's Shanghai Composite jumped 1.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index finished 0.5% higher. The gains came amid reports that the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, approved three large steel construction projects.

Investors were also encouraged after four separate polls over the weekend showed Greece's pro-austerity conservative New Democracy party swung into first place ahead of next month's elections. Several property, construction and mining and metals stocks jumped on Chinese bourses.

Shanghai Construction Group Co. and China Railway Erju Co. each rose by the day's 10% limit, Anhui Conch Cement Co. gained 5.8% and Poly Real Estate Group added 3.3% in Shanghai; in Shenzhen, XCMG Construction Machinery climbed 9% and Xinjiang Tianshan Cement rose 8.6%.

Chinese property and banking stocks outperformed in Hong Kong, with China Overseas Land & Investment up 4.1%, China Resources Land 3.4% higher and Bank of China up 2.5%.

Among the decliners, shares of car maker BYD Co. tumbled 5.9% amid vehicle safety concerns after weekend reports that one of its vehicles caught fire and exploded in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, killing three people.

Energy producers gained as crude-oil futures edged back above $91 a barrel level in electronic trading. Inpex Corp. rose 0.3% in Tokyo and Cnooc Ltd. climbed 0.4% in Hong Kong.

In Tokyo, buying in some heavyweight stocks pulled the market higher after a choppy trading session, during which Fanuc Corp. added 2% and Fast Retailing Co. climbed 2.2%. On the downside, shares of chip maker Renesas Electronics Corp. tumbled 10.6% after weekend reports that the firm plans to cut up to 14,000 jobs and raise about $1.25 billion in capital. Major Renesas shareholder NEC Corp. also fell 9.2%.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed mixed on the London Metal Exchange Monday following a subdued trading session that saw markets thinned by holidays across some of Europe and the U.S. At the close, LME three-month copper was 0.6% higher on the day at $7,685 a metric ton, while aluminum was up 0.4% at $2,024/ton.