Aug 22 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien Ponthus. Reach him on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: julien.ponthus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
ON THE RADAR AT THE OPEN: QUITE A BIT OF M&A (0652 GMT)
European bourses are set to open slightly lower today as investors wait to see whether the United States and China can make any progress on the trade war front.
There's also the FOMC minutes expected after market close which could be quite an interesting read in the context of a possible EM crisis.
"How much of a clue will they give us as to how many more Fed hikes lie ahead?" asks Rabobank.
In terms of stocks, Vodafone (LON:VOD) will be under the spotlight after Australia's TPG Telecom said it was looking into a merger deal. TPG shares soared 10 percent and hit a 17-month high.
Still on the M&A front, Linde warned that divestments needed to secure approval for its planned tie-up with Praxair (NYSE:PX) have reached a size that would allow either party to abandon the deal, but added it was in constructive talks to salvage the $83 billion merger.
Again in the deals arena, GlaxoSmithKline is seeking initial bids by mid-September for its India-focused Horlicks health nutrition business, which is expected to fetch more than $4 billion.
Could M&A also be a consequence of the Genoa bridge tragedy? It's possible and Atlantia could have another volatile day: Italian state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) may buy a controlling stake in Autostrade per l'Italia, two sources told Reuters, while some members of the anti-establishment government have suggested that the motorway network should be nationalized after the disaster that killed 43 people.
In the hot payments sector, Adyen, the Dutch company which processes payments for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), reported H1 profit up 75 percent from a year ago.
(Julien Ponthus)
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CAUTIOUSLY DOWN IT IS (0608 GMT)
European futures have opened and they're roughly telling the same story as financial spreadbetters: European bourses are seen cautiously edging down.
(Julien Ponthus)
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MORNING CALL: CAUTIOUSLY DOWN (0520 GMT)
You would think that with the S&P 500 touching a record high on its longest-ever bull-market run, the mood would be slightly more upbeat in Europe but nope.
Financial spreadbetters expect London's FTSE to open 16 points lower, Frankfurt's DAX and Paris' CAC down 20 points and 9 points respectively.
U.S. futures are currently slightly down and there were limited gains in Asia where fragile Chinese markets retreated.
Hopes that the trade talks between the U.S. and China will ease trade tensions are clearly not making miracles.
(Julien Ponthus)
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