Last checked at 
* European shares slid as Trump tests positive to COVID-19
* Paris to be placed on maximum alert on Monday
* Madrid to become the first European capital back into lockdown
* Gold miner Centamin shares slump 20%
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.
LET’S WAIT FOR WALL STREET (0940 GMT)
Worried but let’s wait for the U.S. market to open before taking position.
That seems to be the general idea in the stock market across Europe as it started the
session in the red after the U.S. president Donald Trump and his wife tested positive for
coronavirus.
Investors see more volatility but not a clear direction yet.
“It was already looking as if markets had entered choppy waters and the latest development
just means the waves could be a little larger,” Rupert Thompson, chief investment officer at
Kingswood, says.
“This is U.S. stuff, let’s wait for Wall Street to open before doing anything today,” a
stock trader in Milan says.
The STOXX 600 is down 0.5%
Trump in a tweet this morning said they will begin their “quarantine and recovery process
immediately,” adding more uncertainty to the U.S. political scenario ahead of the Nov. 3
presidential election.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
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FTSE OVER MIDCAPS (0844 GMT)
Taking a look at how Britain's blue chips and midcaps are performing today,
both down about 0.6%, one wouldn't think that some asset managers could have divergent opinions
on the future of those indices.
But Aviva's Sunil Krishnan, head of multi-asset funds says blue chips have better tools to
survive the pandemic and Brexit as a transition period ends in December.
He says his team expects a "skinny Brexit deal", so things will be tougher for UK companies
overall, but especially smaller ones.
"You might not crash out with a no deal but you might still be putting quite a lot of
challenges in the way of the UK because essentially the UK will be leaving one of the tightest
international trading clubs in the world."
"Within the UK equity market, we prefer the larger companies so essentially the FTSE 100, to
smaller companies," he says.
Domestically exposed midcaps might find it harder to face trading bureaucracy once the UK
leaves the single market for good.
"Bear in mind that they (FTSE 100) are multinational in terms of their production as well as
their sales, and they probably have better ability to manage the contingencies".
Additionally, as Aviva underweights sterling over the euro, it expects FTSE companies to
benefit from a cheaper pound.
(Joice Alves)
*****
OPENING SNAPSHOT: RISK-OFF AFTER TRUMP TESTED POSITIVE (0737 GMT)
It's a risk-off day after Trump said he and his wife tested positive for coronavirus, adding
uncertainty to an already complicated political scenario in the U.S.
But it is not just that: the euro zone core inflation, which will be out this morning, is
expected to hit a new record low. The index of consumer prices should not come as a major
surprise after the lower national data seen earlier this week.
The U.S. job data from September is also on schedule, following the weekly jobless claims,
released yesterday. The weekly numbers fell but remained at recession levels.
The STOXX 600 sank 0.6% with chemical and automotive sectors leading losses down about 1%.
Among single stocks, ACS shares are the best performers of the pan European index,
up 13.3%, after Vinci submitted a non-binding offer in order to negotiate the acquisition of the
company’s industrial unit.
Centamin shares are down 19.1% as the company's production outlook was hit by delays
at its Sukari mine.
Korian stocks fall 8.7% as the company is in exclusive talks to buy psychiatric
care firm Inicea from investment company Antin Infrastructure Partners.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
*****
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 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.
Brazilian federal and state prosecutors have asked a court to re-open a multi-billion-dollar
civil action lawsuit against miners Samarco, Vale and BHP for damages caused
by the Fundao dam burst in 2015.
Shares in Grenke 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.
Korian is in exclusive talks to buy psychiatric care firm Inicea from investment
company Antin Infrastructure Partners and expand in the mental health sector.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
*****
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)
*****
