Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters. You can share your thoughts with Joice Alves (joice.alves@thomsonreuters.com) and Julien Ponthus (julien.ponthus@thomsonreuters.com) in London and Stefano Rebaudo (stefano.rebaudo@thomsonreuters.com) and Danilo Masoni (danilo.masoni@thomsonreuters.com) in Milan.
ON THE RADAR: AIR FRANCE-KLM, GRENKE, LOCKDOWNS (0638 GMT)
The news that U.S. president Donald Trump and his wife tested positive for coronavirus is rattling investors across the globe as uncertainty increases about U.S. presidential elections and a rescue package which would help the U.S. economy recover from the coronavirus crisis.
Meanwhile the pandemic continues to concern European countries as Paris is set to be placed on maximum COVID-19 alert while the worst hotspot, Madrid, will go into lockdown in the coming days. Italy's prime minister will ask parliament to extend the state of emergency to the end of January, to avoid the kind of surge in cases seen in other European countries.
On the corporate front KLM, the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM AIRF.PA submitted a plan to restructure operations to the Dutch state, a condition of the 3.4 billion euros package in aid it is receiving to avoid bankruptcy. federal and state prosecutors have asked a court to re-open a multi-billion-dollar civil action lawsuit against miners Samarco, Vale VALE3.SA and BHP BHP.AX for damages caused by the Fundao dam burst in 2015. in Grenke GLJn.DE are up 4.2% in early trade after the company said new business fell slightly less than expected in the third quarter as it said it would fight the fraud allegations, which have seen it temporarily suspend its founder. KORI.PA is in exclusive talks to buy psychiatric care firm Inicea from investment company Antin Infrastructure Partners and expand in the mental health sector. Rebaudo)
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MORNING CALL: DOWN AFTER TRUMP TESTED POSITIVE (0533 GMT)
European stock futures are well in the red along with their U.S. peers amid worries about the U.S. politics.
Trump said he and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, triggering a selloff in stock futures as risks of a contested presidential election increase.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a $2.2 trillion Democratic package to provide more economic relief from the pandemic, but a deal before the Nov. 3 election remains unlikely. Meanwhile the number of Americans filing for new jobless benefits fell last week but remained at recession levels.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
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