European, UK shares snap winning streak, silver surges

By Vikram Subhedar

LONDON (Reuters) - The post-Brexit recovery across European markets stalled on Monday with major share indexes mixed and safe-haven demand for precious metals helping the price of silver surge to a near-two year high.

Light trading volumes because of the July 4 public holiday in the United States is likely to keep markets choppy through the day.

Europe's Stoxx 600 (STOXX) fell 0.4 percent and London's FTSE 100 (FTSE) fell 0.2 percent with weaker financials offsetting gains from shares in mining companies.

Earlier in the day, the Australian dollar recovered from a wobbly start caused by political uncertainty post-election while Asian shares and base metal prices rose, partly on expectations of economic stimulus from China.

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) strategists warned investors against chasing the rally in risky assets.

"We do not believe that we will see a sustained upmove. Positioning is not washed out, market internals are not positive and political uncertainty will linger," they wrote in a note.

Caution is likely to persist through the week with the Bank of England scheduled to publish its quarterly financial stability report on Tuesday, the June U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes due on Wednesday and U.S. jobs data on Friday.

In bond markets, worries about the health of Italian banks and some 20 billion euros ($22.24 billion) of bond supply in the region this week combined to halt a post-Brexit tumble in regional borrowing costs.

Italian banking index (FTIT8300) fell more than 3 percent on Monday, while the European Central Bank asked Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MI:BMPS) to slash its bad debts by 40 percent over three years, heaping more pressure on Rome and Brussels to stabilize the Italian banking system.

Italy is in talks with the European Commission on devising a plan to recapitalizes Italian lenders with public money limiting losses for bank investors, an EU spokeswoman said on Sunday.

UK POLITICS

Sterling came under pressure from poor data that showed Britain's construction sector PMI survey suffered its worst contraction in seven years in the run up to the vote to leave the European Union.

The currency was off 0.1 percent at $1.3251 , still nursing its losses after an 11-percent plunge to a 31-year trough of $1.3122 a week ago following last month's shock Brexit vote.

The weekend's headlines were dominated by mixed messages from the candidates seeking to replace David Cameron as Conservative Party leader and prime minister, offering markets little certainty about the outlook for the months ahead.

The euro edged lower to $1.1121 and was down slightly against its Japanese counterpart at 114.27 yen EURJPY=R. The dollar rose 0.2 percent to 102.65 yen .

Crude oil prices extended gains from Friday's surge after comments by the Saudi energy minister that the oil market is heading towards balance despite signs of slowing demand in Asia.

Spot gold added 0.7 percent to $1,352.10 an ounce after gaining 1.5 percent on Friday and about 9 percent in June.

Silver spiked 3 percent higher to $20.30 an ounce, breaking the $20-dollar level for the first time in nearly two years.