BKIR.L Share News (BKIR)

Thoughts that the euro-zone boil had been lanced by the agreement of a bail-out package for Ireland have proved premature, with rising Spanish bond yields suggesting that the prospect of Spain being the recipient of an EU/IMF aid package cannot be ruled out.An underwhelming response to the latest Italian bond auction has rattled investors and while banking stocks and a few gold miners are holding up well, the rest of the blue-chips are in retreat.Royal Bank of Scotland, which has the largest exposure of the UK banks to Ireland, is clinging on to gains while HSBC is the best performing leading stock.Bank of Ireland has vowed to raise the €2.2bn demanded under the terms of the Irish bail-out through its own efforts and without the help of the Irish state. The Irish bank has to raise the additional capital by the end of next February or else get the cash from the Irish state, which would amount to effective nationalisation.Irish Life & Permanent Group Holdings, meanwhile, said the new 12% capital requirement for its Permanent TSB banking arm will have little impact on the group, and will be met from its own resources.Insurer Aviva has been lifted by JPMorgan Chase slapping an "overweight" recommendation on the stock with a 524p price target, but the US investment house is less enamoured of Resolution, where it has an "underweight" rating for the stock, as it sees better opportunities elsewhere in the sector.Travel firm TUI Travel provides a ray of sunlight, advancing after disclosing it is to sell its Thomson Al Fresco business to Homair Vacances. At 30 September 2009 the net book value of the assets being sold was £10.3m. Miner African Barrick Gold has accelerated its drilling programme at the Nyanzaga Project in Tanzania after more good in-fill results. The miner, which recently suspended 40% of the mining department at its Buzwagi mine in Tanzania following a fuel theft, said its drilling made further successful intersections on the southern extensions with several broad, higher-grade zones of gold mineralization. BP has sold its stake in Argentina-based oil and gas company Pan American Energy (PAE) to Bridas Corporation for $7.06bn (£4.52bn) in cash. BP's 60% will give Bridas, which already owns 40% of the business, full control when the deal completes in 2011. It also puts BP firmly on course to hit its $30bn target of asset sales, announced in July, by the end of next year. Today's deal pushes the total so far to $21bn.UK smartphone users won't rack up such huge bills when travelling in Europe after Vodafone today cut the price of sending emails and surfing the net while abroad. Occasional travellers will be able to take a domestic data plan overseas for €2 (£1.70) per day, 60% less than the company's existing plans. It also includes an increase to the data allowance.Week-end reports that a major restructuring is on the cards has lifted indebted pubs group Punch Taverns. Ian Dyson, the new chief executive, may hand the tenanted estate to the group's bondholders, leaving the group to concentrate on the 800 pubs that Punch directly manages.Oil and gas explorer Salamander has made a 'highly encouraging' gas discovery at its Angklung-1 exploration well in the Bontang PSC, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Salmander, which is the operator with a 100% interest, says Angklung-1 well flowed gas at a commercial rate and also found a new Upper Miocene oil play, highlighting the potential value in the North Kutei basin. Qantas on Sunday began flying its Airbus 380s for the first time since a mid-air explosion of a Rolls-Royce engine forced one of the Australian airline's jets to make an emergency landing earlier in November. Luxury interior furnishings group Walker Greenbank said full year pre-tax profits are expected to be materially ahead of market forecasts after a robust autumn period. The group, whose brands include Sanderson, Morris & Co., Harlequin and Zoffany, said, "During the past few weeks, the company's brands have achieved their highest-ever level of sales of wallpapers and fabrics."Student accommodation business Unite Group has completed the sale of assets to the Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund for £143.9m in cash.Shares in Avanti Communications headed skyward after the satellite operator's announcement that it successfully launched its HYLAS 1 satellite from the Kourou space centre in French Guiana on Friday.