RTRS: European shares tick higher but RBS slumps 40 pct
European stocks eked out a small gain by midday on Monday, as drugmakers rose, but Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) slumped more than 40 percent after posting the biggest loss in British corporate history. At 1206 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 805.20 points.
The index also rose on Friday, but fell for seven sessions before that. It fell 45 percent in 2008, with banks hit worst.
Defensive pharmaceutical stocks gained, with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L), Roche (ROG.VX) and AstraZeneca (AZN.L) rising 2.6 percent to 3.7 percent.
But banks fell sharply as Britain launched a second bank rescue plan.
The plan includes boosting its stake in RBS to 70 percent from 58 percent [ID:nLJ453422]. RBS shares fell 44 percent to a 24-year low, adding to losses of more than 90 percent in 2008.
"There is a Europe-wide banking problem to solve -- it's not just in the UK," said Franz Wenzel, strategist at AXA Investment Managers in Paris.
Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) fell 6 percent, hitting an all-time low, following results last week.
LBBW analyst Alexander Groschke estimated in a research note that Deutsche Bank was sitting on more than 80 billion euros worth of assets for which no market prices are available and which could trigger further writedowns.
BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) fell between 4.2 percent and 6.6 percent.
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L), now enlarged by the acquisition of HBOS, was down 10 percent.
Investors trained their sights on possible moves from the incoming U.S. administration, which has said it will make its bailout funds work harder to get credit flowing again to cash-starved consumers and companies.
