European stocks jump into Q4 but Spanish banks sink on Catalan vote

LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Spanish stocks sank on Monday after a violent referendum in Catalonia, underperforming the wider European market as political uncertainty dented bank shares.

The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX jumped into the fourth quarter with a 0.3 percent gain, boosted by strong travel stocks and a mining sector supported by better metals prices. MET/L

But Spain's IBEX .IBEX fell 1.2 percent after Catalans defied a police crackdown to vote for independence in a referendum the Spanish government said was unconstitutional. banks opened sharply lower, down between 1.8 and 3.2 percent, leading the IBEX down, with shares in Catalonia-headquartered Banco Sabadell SABE.MC and Caixabank CABK.MC the worst-performing.

On the STOXX, ballpoint pen and razor maker BIC BICP.PA sank 10 percent after shaving its 2017 sales forecast due to weaker than expected performance in U.S. and Latin American markets. EZJ.L , Ryanair RYA.I and Lufthansa LHAG.DE were among top gainers, up between 2.9 and 5 percent after Monarch Airlines went bust, prompting Britain's biggest-ever peacetime repatriation effort to return thousands of stranded passengers. last week said easyJet and Wizz Air were in talks to take over some of Monarch's short-haul network. and leisure stocks .SXTP jumped 1.2 percent on the prospect of airlines carving up Monarch's assets.

Gjensidige Forsikring GJFS.OL shares gained 3.5 percent after DNB raised the insurer to a "buy", saying its current discount to peers was unwarranted.

Aggreko AGGK.L sank 5.9 percent after Berenberg cut it to a "sell".