EUROPE MARKETS: Banks Climb After TLTRO, Siemens Slips: Europe's Big Stock Moves

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Here are some of the companies whose shares made notable moves in European trading on Thursday.

Gainers

Banks were among major gainers in Europe after the European Central Bank said eurozone banks borrowed 82.6 billion euros ($106.9 billion) in the first round of targeted long-term refinancing operation, also known as TLTRO. The uptake was lower than expected, which some analysts argued was because the banks might wait on TLTRO until after their asset-quality review and stress test results. Shares of Banco Santander SA (SAN) rose 1%, BNP Paribas SA picked up 1%, Société Générale SA climbed 1.8% and Commerzbank AG added 1.2%.

Randstad Holding NV jumped 2.8% after Citigroup lifted the recruitment agency to neutral from sell.

EasyJet PLC rose 1.9% after the cut-rate airline said Thursday that it would increase its dividend payout more than 20% and buy 27 more Airbus Group NV jets.

Shares of chemicals and drug maker Bayer AG gained 5% as investors welcomed news that the company plans to spin off its plastics business to focus entirely on its life-sciences operations.

Tate & Lyle PLC put on 3.1% after Exane BNP Paribas raised the sugar maker to neutral from underperform.

Decliners

Siemens AG dropped 0.9% after Exane BNP Paribas cut the German industrial conglomerate to neutral from outperform.

Miners were giving back ground in London as gold(GCZ4) and other precious- and base-metal prices fell. In the wake of the Fed, a rising dollar knocked gold back to levels not seen since January. Shares of Fresnillo PLC fell 2.1%, Randgold Resources Ltd. dropped 2%, and heavyweight Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) slipped 0.6%.

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