European Stocks Mixed as London Gains, Other Markets Fall

The headline event from the session was again the looming collapse of Monte Paschi , the Italian lender, after a debtvswap it carried out left it a 3 billion short of the capital it needs to raise in order to recapitalize itself following a planned loan sale. With its share sale having closed on Thursday afternoon, market expectations are that Monte Paschi is now nationalized, marking the first major bank failure since the financial crisis.