FROM MORRISON SECURITIES PTY. LTD:

U.S. STOCK MARKETS

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index inched ahead Monday after Spanish borrowing costs rose to a record high and Greek political leaders sought to form a pro-bailout coalition following Sunday's election.

Stocks bounced from opening lows to waver between slight gains and losses for most of the day. The S&P 500 edged up 1.94 points, or 0.1%, to 1344.78. Consumer discretionary and technology shares led advances across eight of the index's 10 sectors, while energy stocks lagged behind.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 25.35 points, or 0.2%, to 12741.82. Hewlett-Packard led decliners, falling 2.7%. Home Depot rose 0.9%, among the biggest gainers in the Dow, as a reading on home-builder confidence rose to a five-year high.

The Nasdaq Composite climbed 22.53 points, or 0.8%, to 2895.33. The price of 10-year Spanish government bonds fell, pushing yields to 7.13%, surpassing the 7% level at which Greece, Portugal and Ireland started to lose access to capital markets.

EUROPEAN STOCK MARKETS

The ratio of past-due loans held by Spanish banks jumped to an 18-year high, further evidence of debt problems in the country. That overshadowed the New Democracy party's narrow victory in Greece's election Sunday, which eased fears the country would face an abrupt and unruly exit from the euro zone.

But the party's ability to form a viable coalition remained uncertain. Leaders of the Group of 20 industrial and emerging nations were expected to press for swifter action by European officials at a summit that started Monday. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary- policymaking committee was set to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving open the possibility that additional efforts to support the U.S. economy could be on tap.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed 0.1% higher at 244.36 Monday, with gains slowly fading from the open. Greek stocks surged, however, with the Athens General Index up 3.6% at 580.67.

Following on from gains in Asia, European markets initially rallied after the results from the Greek parliamentary election held Sunday, which put pro-austerity New Democracy on top with 29.7% of the votes and antiausterity party Syriza second with 26.9% support.

In currency markets, the euro quickly gave up gains against the dollar. By the time of the European stock markets' close, the common currency was fetching $1.2564 from $1.2640 late Friday in New York, after surging on the Greek election results in Asian trade.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 5491.09 and Germany's DAX ended up 0.3% at 6248.20, while France's CAC-40 fell 0.7% to 3066.19. As worries about the euro zone gathered pace, Spanish and Italian indexes underperformed the broader European market.

The IBEX-35 closed down 3% at 6519.90, while the FTSE Mib slid 2.8% to 13,009.63.

With a major hurdle for Greece out of the way, the focus soon turned to Spain, where the 10-year government bond yield ended at a record high closing level of 7.13%, according to Tradeweb.

Against this backdrop, Spain will test the market's appetite for its debt Tuesday, with an auction of up to EUR3 billion in 12- and 18-month Treasury bills.

Spanish banks were under pressure, with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria down 4.2% and Banco Santander off 4.6%. Adding to the pressure, data showed bad debts held by Spanish banks rose to an 18-year high in April.

Other European banks also fell. Societe Generale and UniCredit were both down 4.3%, while Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 5%. The Stoxx Europe 500 banks index ended down 1.7%. In Germany, auto makers provided support, with BMW up 2.1% and Daimler up 2.1%.

In Paris, Electricite de France bucked the decline, surging 2.8% after Exane BNP Paribas lifted the stock to outperform from neutral.

ASIA-PACIFIC STOCK MARKETS

The outcome of the Greek election sparked a rally in risk assets in Asia Monday as investors were cheered by the victory of the pro-bailout New Democracy party, though the gains moderated in some markets as the day progressed.

Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi were both 1.8% higher, at 8721.02 and 1891.71, respectively. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 1% higher at 19427.81 and the China Shanghai Composite gained 0.4% to 2316.05.

The broad regional gains came as early results from the weekend parliamentary elections in Greece projected the New Democracy party would win and form a coalition government that is expected to honor the country's commitments when it received a financial bailout.

Stocks in the financial, resource and export sectors were among the notable gainers. Sony Corp. jumped 4.2%, Mazda Motor Corp. spiked 6% and Nomura Holdings Inc. rose 2.6% in Tokyo; Hyundai Motor Co. rose 3.5% and Samsung Securities Co. climbed 2.4% in Seoul; in Hong Kong, energy producer Cnooc Ltd. gained 2.1% and Standard Chartered PLC added 2.3%.

Chinese property developers performed well on mainland bourses as well as in Hong Kong on an improvement in risk-appetite and after data showed May property prices registering a smaller decline in housing prices.

Shimao Property Holdings Ltd. gained 3.2% and China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. rose 2.7% in Hong Kong, Poly Real Estate Group Co. added 1.7% in Shanghai, and China Vanke Co. rose 0.9% in Shenzhen.

Among other movers, bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. slumped 4.5% after it announced Friday the acquisition of London Metal Exchange, with some analysts concerned over the deal's price tag.

COMMODITIES

Base metals closed lower on the London Metal Exchange Monday, losing ground in line with broader financial markets as enthusiasm after Greece's election result faded and the focus shifted to Spain's rising borrowing costs.

At the PM kerb close, LME three-month copper was 0.01% lower at $7,509.50 a metric ton. Lead lost the most ground of the base metal complex Monday, closing 1.4% lower on the day at $1,895.50/ton.

Crude-oil futures posted a slight loss as the market was dominated by news of the euro-zone credit crisis and its potential to squelch oil demand. Light, sweet crude for July delivery settled down 76 cents, or 0.9%, at $83.27 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Brent futures on the ICE exchange for August delivery lost $1.56, or 1.6%, to $96.05 a barrel, a new settlement low for 2012. Gold futures ended near unchanged as investors prepared for the upcoming Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting and mulled the future of Europe's struggling economies.

The most actively traded contract, for August delivery, slipped $1.10, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,627.00 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.