Spain Socialists win, short of overall majority

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's governing Socialist Party won Sunday's election, increasing their tally of seats but still short of an absolute majority, according to partial official results.

Following are economists' comments:

EMILIO ONTIVEROS, ECONOMIST AT AFI

"Although the PSOE (Socialist Party) has won, it's true that the political map of Spain has been redistributed a little towards the centre from the left."

NICOLAS LOPEZ, ANALYST, M&G

"The result has come out according to expectations, more or less. The sinking of some regionalist parties and the United Left has been quite a surprise.

"It hasn't reached an absolute majority and I don't know if (the Socialists) will be able to govern alone. I don't think it's a surprise result and it's not certain how the market will react. I think it will have a neutral impact.

"The first thing I'll be waiting to see is how they're going to tackle the palpable crisis in the construction sector. I imagine the emergency plan will be to assign a part of the budget surplus to reinvigorate the construction sector and invest in infrastructure to offset the fall in residential construction."

GILLES MOEC, ECONOMIST, BANK OF AMERICA