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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) in Milan.
OPENING SNAPSHOT: VIRUS FEARS (0726 GMT)
Back in a risk-off mood as the coronavirus pandemic is stealing the stage also today on
worrying data across the world showing more cases.
While the U.S. is still seeing rises in cases and the World Health Organization (WHO) said
the pandemic is accelerating globally, the reproduction rate in Germany jumped to
2.88 on Sunday, above the level needed to contain it over the longer term.
The STOXX 600 is down 0.8%, with the travel and leisure index leading the losses down 2%,
oil and gas down 1.7%.
Lufthansa shares drop by 4.7% ahead of fresh talks about its rescue plan.
Glencore shares are down 5.3% after the company said Swiss prosecutors started a
criminal investigation for failure to have measures in place to prevent alleged corruption in
the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Shares in Deutsche Telekom fall 4.5% as the company goes exdiv this week. The
company said on Friday it will retain control of T-Mobile should Japan's Softbank
liquidate its stake, CEO Tim Hoettges said on Friday as he vowed to claim the top spot
in the U.S. market. DT has a right of first refusal under a four-year shareholder pact.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
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ON THE RADAR: WIRECARD, LUFTHANSA (0646 GMT)
European stocks are set to open lower as the virus is back in the spotlight along with
resurging fears that a second wave of shutdowns might weaken an economic recovery globally.
The U.S. sees a rise in cases and the reproduction rate in Germany jumped to 2.88 on Sunday,
above the level needed to contain it over the longer term.
On the corporate front, shares in Wirecard are down 40% in early trade, after the
company said assets totalling 1.9 billion euros ($2.13 billion) that auditor EY has been unable
to account for likely did not exist in the first place. Wirecard also hired U.S.
investment bank Houlihan Lokey to devise a new financing strategy.
Lufthansa shares are down 11% in early trade; its Chief Executive Carsten Spohr
said on Sunday it would seek to avoid a grounding and insolvency, before a showdown between the
airline's biggest shareholder and the German government over the terms of a 9-billion-euro
bailout.
Telefonica CEO Jose Maria Alvarez Pallete said his company will participate in the
consolidation of the sector in "the markets we want to be relevant," according to the Spanish
newspaper Expansion.
Italy is close to unveiling the approval of guarantees for a 6.3 billion euro ($7 billion)
financing of Fiat Chrysler (FCA), two sources familiar with the matter said, paving
the way for the largest crisis loan for a European carmaker.
French airports group ADP risks losing 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion) in terms of sales
due to the COVID-19 crisis, ADP's chairman and chief executive Augustin de Romanet told French
newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche in an interview published on Sunday.
GlaxoSmithKline is out of the race to test experimental immunisations against the
coronavirus as it prefers the slow and steady approach of focusing on an established technology,
its chief medical officer for vaccines Thomas Breuer said.
Mediawan announced a raft of deals, including the acquisition of Lagardere Studios,
as part of a broader expansion laid out by its founders, who will also establish a new holding
company for the business.
Atlantia is yet to submit a proposal which the government can accept to solve a row
over its motorway concession but a decision on the matter must be taken soon, Prime Minister
Giuseppe Conte said.
Phoenix Tower International has offered to buy the telecom mast unit of Italy's EITowers
for 550 million euros.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
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MORNING CALL: THE VIRUS KEEPS EUROPEAN FUTURES IN THE RED (0538 GMT)
European futures are in the red on fears that a second wave of shutdowns could weaken an
expected economic recovery globally, while its U.S. peers are in positive territory already
showing some resilience after Friday's Wall Street fall.
Apple said on Friday it would shut U.S. stores as coronavirus is on the rise in some states,
triggering a selloff on Wall Street, while according to the World Health Organization (WHO) the
pandemic is accelerating globally.
The coronavirus reproduction rate in Germany jumped to 2.88 on Sunday, taking infections
above the level needed to contain it over the longer term.
Asian stocks edged higher overnight, with Shanghai Composite supported by reforms in its
capital market to help bolster the economy.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
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