London open: Stocks rise ahead of Spanish auction

- Burberry, M and S tumble after trading updates- Banks in demand after yesterday's fall- Eyes on Spanish bond auctionUK blue chip stocks opened broadly higher on Tuesday morning, as a rebound in the banking sector offset some poorly received trading updates from Burberry and Marks and Spencer.All eyes will likely be on the Eurozone today as Spain attempts to issue short-term bonds this morning. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy yesterday reiterated the gravity of his country's position saying the "fundamental objective at the moment is to reduce the deficit...If we don't achieve this, the rest won't matter: we won't be able to fund our debt."By 09:00, Spanish 10-year bond yields were down 9.4 basis points at 5.976% after having surged past the 6% level yesterday. According to a quarterly poll from JP Morgan, investor confidence in Spain fell to an all-time low in the first quarter.The ZEW German sentiment survey is due out this morning which is expected to show the reading fall from a 21-month higher. Markets are also awaiting housing starts and industrial output data due out later today in the US.FTSE 100: Banks up, Burberry and M&S sold offBarclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds were making solid gains early on after a sell-off yesterday on the back of Eurozone concerns.Underlying revenue growth at luxury brand Burberry eased in the fourth quarter owing to a slowdown in growth at its Wholesale division, which caused shares to drop over 4% early on. Wholesales growth was affected "by the planned shift from wholesale to retail in Saudi Arabia and Spain and further rationalisation of the brand's distribution in the United States and Europe," the company said.Inventory problems at Marks and Spencer have hit sales in general merchandise (like clothing and homeware) but the tills are still ringing in the company's food halls. Like-for-like (LFL) sales in the UK were down 0.7% on the first quarter of 2011. Miners were also lower with Randgold Resources, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto, Xstrata, ENRC and Glencore among the worst performers. Rio Tinto said this morning that production of copper and iron ore fell in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the final three months of last year. Meanwhile, ENRC announced the completion of the acquisition of thermal coal group Shubarkol Komir JSC, which is expected to enhance the company's position as a leading coal producer in Kazakhstan.FTSE 250: Afren jumps on 'potentially transformational' oil discoveryAfren thinks it might have struck it big in the Kurdistan region of Iraq with its Simrit-2 exploration well. "The scale of the oil column that has been intersected suggests that the Simrit structure and surrounding prospects elsewhere on the Ain Sifni PSC have the potential to be transformational for Afren", said Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive.Euromoney Institutional Investor, the publisher and exhibitions organiser, kept the top line growing in the first half of its financial year despite the depressed state of the advertising market. Group revenues grew 13% in the six months to March 31st.Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said that advertising at Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail, has fallen 3% in the six months to the end of March.Milk, cheese and spreads group Dairy Crest fell after saying it is looking to close two of its dairies. It also revealed that a Tesco contract will not be renewed.FTSE 100 - RisersBarclays (BARC) 218.30p +3.56%CRH (CRH) 1,265.00p +2.60%ITV (ITV) 86.65p +2.18%Schroders (SDR) 1,470.00p +1.94%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 24.70p +1.77%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 30.20p +1.65%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,518.50p +1.30%BG Group (BG.) 1,416.00p +1.14%Prudential (PRU) 729.50p +1.04%Aviva (AV.) 301.30p +1.01%FTSE 100 - FallersBurberry Group (BRBY) 1,518.00p -4.29%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 356.80p -2.96%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,405.00p -2.61%Polymetal International (POLY) 968.50p -1.73%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,639.00p -1.44%ARM Holdings (ARM) 591.00p -1.34%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,540.00p -1.28%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,872.00p -1.08%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 555.50p -0.71%Sage Group (SGE) 284.40p -0.70%FTSE 250 - RisersAfren (AFR) 143.70p +6.84%Logica (LOG) 81.10p +3.18%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 417.30p +3.01%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 17.19p +2.93%Berendsen (BRSN) 536.00p +2.68%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 671.50p +2.28%SIG (SHI) 109.50p +2.05%Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 237.70p +1.93%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 60.10p +1.86%Elementis (ELM) 201.10p +1.82%FTSE 250 - FallersEssar Energy (ESSR) 142.80p -3.05%Soco International (SIA) 277.80p -2.83%Shanks Group (SKS) 90.85p -2.52%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 783.50p -2.25%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 326.60p -2.19%EnQuest (ENQ) 121.10p -2.02%Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) 435.70p -2.00%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 477.00p -1.83%Homeserve (HSV) 220.20p -1.70%Redrow (RDW) 125.20p -1.42%BC