LIVE MARKETS-Chipmakers under pressure on more tech results disappointment

* European stocks slide

* Maersk rises after co says to spin off drilling

* Semiconductor stocks under pressure after weak Applied Materials (NasdaqGS: AMAT - news) forecast

LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - 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

CHIPMAKERS UNDER PRESSURE ON MORE TECH RESULTS DISAPPOINTMENT (1322 GMT)

There's been a wealth of negative factors weighing down the tech sector and chipmakers in

particular, and today is no different: weak results from Nvidia (Swiss: NVDA.SW - news) and Applied Materials in the

U.S. are causing chipmakers in Europe to fall as investors face a potential slow-down of the

tech boom.

The usual suspects Siltronic (IOB: 0R8P.IL - news) , STMicro, Infineon (Xetra: 623100 - news) , AMS (IOB: 0QWC.IL - news) , are the worst-performing on the tech

index, with BE Semiconductor, ASML (Milan: ASML.MI - news) and ASM International (LSE: 0NX3.L - news) also declining.

AMS - Europe's best performing stock last year - is another stock deep in bear territory,

down an impressive 45 percent since its March peak.

Whether it's rational or not, some bad results from big tech companies have caused investors

to ditch tech recently: in the week Tencent (HKSE: 0700-OL.HK - news) slid after reporting disappointing results, EPFR

flows data showed $0.5 billion outflows from the tech sector - the biggest since the Feb

selloff.

Looking at cumulative 26-week inflows, BAML's chart makes it clear the tide might be

starting to turn on tech:

(Helen Reid)

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FUTURES SUGGEST FOLLOW-THROUGH IN DOUBT (1240 GMT)

U.S. stock futures suggest major averages are poised to open slightly lower, potentially

bringing Thursday's thrust, especially in the Dow Jones, to an abrupt halt.

This as traders eye another 1 percent-plus drop in the Shanghai Composite, as well

as renewed weakness in the Turkish lira.

Semiconductor stocks look to open on the soft side. This after quarterly reports from Nvidia

and Applied Materials added to fears that a two-year chip boom may be losing steam.

Here's your premarket snapshot:

(Terence Gabriel)

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MIDDAY SNAPSHOT: SLIDING FURTHER (1223 GMT)

European stocks have just hit a session low, extending their slide from the open, on news a

Turkish court has rejected U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson's appeal for release - deepening a

diplomatic rift between the two countries.

The Turkish lira's slide has been putting renewed pressure on the region's stock market, and

taken the euro zone banks index to a new 20-month low. Autos stocks and basic resources

are also suffering sharp declines.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) analysts sift through the data on Europe's exposure to Turkey, and conclude

that the consequences for European economies would be more severe from a geopolitical

perspective than from a trade or financial perspective.

"While financial claims of European banks on Turkish borrowers are not trivial for some

countries, the potential liabilities look manageable at the macro level," they write.

"If the currency crisis in Turkey were to extend to other EM countries, the impact on Europe

would be more severe."

(Helen Reid)

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SPOOKY BEARS, SPOOKY CUBS (1111 GMT)

The fact emerging market stocks have slipped into bear market territory is

definitely seen as a bad omen for European stock markets, which are still struggling to break

even year-to-date.

Two key European sectors, banks and car makers have already crossed the 20

percent bar since their peak earlier this year, and there might be more to come.

The basic resources index is dangerously close to the bear threshold, roughly down

18 percent from its peak, dragged down by copper (another bear) and gold, which

is on a slippery slope (down nearly 15 percent).

The Milan bourse is also not very far from a bear market, down over 17 percent and telecoms

, with a 14 percent fall, is also getting dangerously close.

(Julien Ponthus and Marc Jones)

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WHAT SHOULD INVESTORS BE WORRYING ABOUT? (1051 GMT)

There's a lot to worry about out there, and this session's swing into negative territory

demonstrates just how fragile sentiment is at the moment.

And investors are taking action. NN Investment Partners has reduced its equity exposure to

"neutral".

Ewout van Schaick, their head of multi asset, says factors besides Turkey such as fading

support from earnings momentum, weak sentiment and other geopolitical risks like trade policy

and the Italian budget talks, could be a drag on equities going forward.

Even (Taiwan OTC: 6436.TWO - news) though van Schaick sees European banks' exposure to Turkey as "manageable", these other

factors are a cause for concern.

"Equity markets are losing the tailwind they enjoyed by the better-than-expected second

quarter results, especially in the U.S. and Japan, while other geopolitical risks are still

present: Budget discussions in Italy, escalation of the trade war, Iran sanctions and Brexit,"

says van Schaick.

(Kit Rees)

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OPENING SNAPSHOT: EUROPEAN SHARES OPEN STEADY (0715 GMT)

It's a pretty flat open for European shares as geopolitical uncertainty keeps investors wary

of taking on risk, with defensive sectors such as health, consumer staples and utilities

providing the biggest boost early on.

Tech is the biggest laggard as semiconductor stocks come under pressure following a weak

forecast from U.S. peer Applied Materials.

Maersk is among the biggest movers, up around 3 percent, after saying that it would spin off

its offshore drilling operation and list it in Copenhagen next year.

Here's your opening snapshot:

(Kit Rees)

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ON THE RADAR AT THE OPEN: CAUTIOUSNESS AND A.P. MOLLER-MAERSK (0649 GMT)

There’s no clear direction set yet for the open and it seems investors are still very

cautious about China and the United States’ latest efforts to try to avert a trade war. That

also applies to the Turkish lira recovering from record lows.

Unfortunately, there’s not that much in terms of data for traders to gnaw on and set a

different mood, certainly not on the macro front (Austrian inflation and Sweden industrial

inventories).

One top news item is A.P. Moller-Maersk's decision to spin off Maersk Drilling and to

distribute to its shareholders a "material part" of its remaining shares in French oil major

Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) .

In terms of earnings, it’s a small batch but there could be a few movers though with Rovio,

the Angry Birds maker, posting a disappointing quarterly profit. Dutch oil and chemical storage

firm Vopak also announced lower than expected core profit.

It was not all grim for corporate results with Swiss elevator maker Schindler reporting a

strong Q2 and raising its outlook.

Other corporate news includes RBS (LSE: RBS.L - news) which said its deputy CFO would become interim CFO when

Stevenson leaves at the end of September. Interesting story about how Air France (Paris: FR0000031122 - news) 's unions are

struggling to accept a foreign (Canadian) CEO.

In Italy, Atlantia (LSE: 0I2R.L - news) and the aftermath of the collapse of the Genoa bridge are likely to weigh

heavily on the FTSE MIB.

Also European chip maker Infineon cold move after Applied Materials, the world's

largest supplier of equipment used to make chips, forecasted current-quarter profit and revenue

below Wall Street estimates.

(Julien Ponthus)

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EUROPEAN FUTURES OPEN MIXED (0610 GMT)

Futures have opened in different directions this morning, illustrating the cautiousness

towards China and the United States' latest efforts to avert a trade war and the Turkish lira

recovering from record lows.

(Julien Ponthus)

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MORNING CALL: CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (0529 GMT)

The mood is more cautious in Asia than it was on Wall Street where the Dow Jones rose 1.58

percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.79 percent.

MSCI (Frankfurt: 3HM.F - news) 's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 percent and China and

the United States agreeing to hold trade talks isn't seen as game changers just now.

Chinese markets were hardly impressed by the news and the Shanghai composite index

was in negative territory.

According to LCG's opening calls, the FTSE, the DAX and the CAC are all expected to open 2

points lower.

(Julien Ponthus)

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