* European shares set for steady open
* Trump slaps tariffs on $200 bln in Chinese goods
* Chinese shares rebound led by infrastructure stocks 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
"SELL THE RUMOUR BUY THE NEWS" ON THE RADAR? (0645 GMT)
It seems like the latest salvo from the White House in the trade war saga isn't a game changer for markets and could even end up in a classic “sell the rumour buy the news” trade.
As Thomas Costerg, senior U.S. economist at Pictet told us yesterday, “10 percent could actually come as a relief” and that the figure is “bad but manageable”.
Some futures, like for France's CAC and Madrid's IBEX, are actually now in positive territory.
There is also plenty of corporate news to animate the session, notably in M&A with Nestle selling its Gerber Life Insurance for $1.55 billion to Western and Southern Financial Group.
Still in Switzerland, speciality chemicals firm Clariant said it was creating a joint venture in high performance materials with its new anchor shareholder Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC).
In the financial industry, Spanish lender Banco Santander (MC:SAN) is in talks to buy the City stockbroker Peel Hunt, in a move that could kick-start a fresh round of consolidation in the sector, Sky news reported.
Bayer (DE:BAYGN) putting a stake in a chemical park operator on sale is a Reuters exclusive and Fox also said that Sky shareholders have until Oct 6 to accept its offer.
Other top news items outside M&A include Zalando slashing its guidance, British retail 'star' Ocado (LON:OCDO) giving a trading update, NHS cutbacks knock 21 pct off Spire earnings, BHP chief sees pay rise trimmed on production.
There's also a Ferrari (NYSE:RACE) strategic update and the market has yet to react to France's Virbac raised guidance for the year.
(Julien Ponthus)
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EUROPEAN FUTURES RETREAT AS TRADE TENSION BITE (0610 GMT)
European futures have opened in the red but it's looking more like a strategic retreat rather than a rout at the moment.
The main indexes across London, Paris and Frankfurt are set to lose between 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent at the moment.
(Julien Ponthus)
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EUROPEAN SHARES TO DIP AS U.S./CHINA TRADE ROW ESCALATES (0522 GMT)
European shares are seen retreating at the open after the Trump administration decided to impose 10 percent tariffs on about $200 billion worth of Chinese imports.
Financial spreadbetters expect London's FTSE to open 37 points lower at 7,265, Frankfurt's DAX to open 52 points lower at 12,044 and Paris' CAC to open 20 points lower at 5,329.
Markets in Asia took a limited hit lower after the announcement.
(Julien Ponthus)
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