LIVE MARKETS-Soft first few hours for European stocks

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SOFT FIRST FEW HOURS FOR EUROPEAN STOCKS

European shares have been soft in the first couple of hours of trading with British banks the notable underperformers.

The STOXX 600 is down 0.7% .STOXX, falling as oil prices rise on fears any deal to open the Strait of Hormuz is a long way off, and while oil names are helping Britain's FTSE 100 to only be down 0.6%, .FTSE big British banks are down meaningfully.

NatWest NWG.L is off 4.2%, Lloyds LLOY.L 4% and Barclays BARC.L 3.8%, the three biggest fallers on Europe's banking index .SX7P as traders fear a new British Prime Minister could increase taxes on the sector.

So far British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is defying calls to resign from many in his governing Labour Party, but it remains to be seen how sustainable this position is.

The standout gainer of the morning so far has been Bayer BAYGn.DE up 6% after it reported a 9% increase in quarterly operating profit that was well above market expectations.

Barring big news from Iran or Britain, and both are possible, the next scheduled big event for markets is U.S. CPI at 1230 GMT.

(Alun John)

EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS

EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: NOW ADD UK POLITICS TO THE MIX CLICK HERE

MORNING BID: PEACE TALKS STUTTER CLICK HERE