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 OUR RADAR: PMI REALITY CHECK AND ELECTROLUX'S WARNING (0754 GMT)
A series of PMIs this morning, starting with France at 0815 GMT, Germany at 0830, euro zone
at 0900 and UK at 0930, should provide a timely reality check on the state of the European
economy before a possible Santa rally.
In terms of market action, trade war proxies, such as Germany's DAX or carmakers, will be
under the spotlight.
There's quite a lot news in the sector too with Daimler's main China joint
venture partner BAIC Group wanting to double its stake and win a board seat in the German luxury
car maker.
In terms of other individual movers, Sweden’s Electrolux is seen falling after a
profit warning. Still in Sweden, Hexagon could be under pressure after its CEO sold
more than half his stake for “private financial reasons”.
Cineworld, which has been criticised for its debt pile, has announced another big
deal with the acquisition of Canada’s Cineplex.
Sports Direct would also rise at the open after its H1 trading update.
Also, Novartis drops hopes for what it thought would be a billion-dollar-selling
asthma drug.
(Julien Ponthus)
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MORNING CALL: PHASE ONE SANTA RALLY (0632 GMT)
European bourses are set to get a big boost this morning from the China/U.S. "totally done"
"phase one" trade deal.
Friday's optimism on an agreement plus the landslide victory of UK PM Boris Johnson had
already propelled the STOXX 600 to 412 points, in touching distance of its April 15 record of
415.18 points.
So with major uncertainties linked to Brexit and U.S./China trade out of the way, is the
path now clear for a good old fashioned Santa Claus rally?
Stephen Innes, chief Asia market strategist at AxiTrader, said in a note he believes the
trade deal "might be enough for the Santa Claus rally", but not necessarily a lasting one given
the need for a comprehensive "phase 2" trade deal.
Anyhow, short-term this morning, the mood is good: IG financial spreadbetters expect
London's FTSE to open 43 points, DAX up 65 points and the CAC 40 to rise 38 points.
(Julien Ponthus)
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(Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Joice Alves, Julien Ponthus and Thyagaraju Adinarayan)
