* European shares seen opening higher
* Euro STOXX 50 futures up 1.6%
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.
ON THE RADAR: M&A ON THE FRONTLINE, COMMERZBANK (0640 GMT)
European stocks are poised to open higher supported by a tech shares rebound on Wall Street
on Friday and strong Chinese data during the weekend.
Risk sentiment continues to show some resilience as investors are focused on stimulus plans
by governments and central banks.
Cleveland-Cliffs, the largest U.S. producer of iron ore pellets, said it had agreed
to buy the U.S. assets of world's largest steelmaker ArcelorMittal for about $1.4
billion.
U.S. casino operator Caesars Entertainment said it was in advanced talks with
William Hill about a possible cash offer that values the British bookmaker at about 2.9
billion pounds.
French utility group Veolia will improve its offer to buy the bulk of Engie's
stake in smaller rival Suez by September 30. Veolia last month offered 2.9
billion euros for a 29.9% stake in Suez owned by Engie, with a view to subsequently taking full
control of Suez by buying up more shares.
Shares in Commerzbank are up 4.4% in early trade after the nomination of Manfred
Knof as chief executive of Germany's bank, which paves the way for an overhaul that could close
hundreds of branches and shrink its foreign operations, though any major changes may still take
months to formalise.
Investors welcomed former Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche's decision to
forego his role as chairman of the German carmaker, announced at the weekend and starting a race
to find an independent head of the company's supervisory board.
Rio Tinto is willing to continue talks with the New Zealand government on
extending operations at its Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.
Sonova expects to return to growth in the second half of the year.
Eyes also on Diageo which said its business was performing ahead of its
expectations.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
*****
MORNING CALL: RESILIENT AFTER RECENT FALLS (0533 GMT)
European stock futures are well in the black showing some resilience after recent falls and
a tech shares rebound on Wall Street on Friday, though broad sentiment remain cautious.
Asian stocks are higher after profits at China’s industrial firms grew for the fourth
straight month in August, but concerns about surging coronavirus cases in Europe and risks of
new restrictive measures continue to weigh.
However there is more going on as investors’ focus is on UK-Europe post-Brexit trade talks
and a fresh U.S. stimulus package, which by the way seems increasingly unlikely to be approved
before the November presidential election.
(Stefano Rebaudo)
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Rio Tinto (RIO)
Diageo (DGE)