LIVE MARKETS-European stock futures point down

(Refiles to correct headline)

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real time coverage of European equity markets

brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Helen Reid. Reach her on

Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: helen.reid.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

EUROPEAN STOCK FUTURES POINT DOWN (0713 GMT)

It certainly looks like a weaker session for European stocks ahead, with futures down 0.5 to

0.8 percent.

Results from UK companies including Thomas Cook (Frankfurt: A0MR3W - news) , TalkTalk, DFS Furniture (Frankfurt: DF0.F - news) , and Sophos, are

just hitting the wire.

M&A activity could also liven up today's session with Swiss Re (LSE: 0QL6.L - news) 's shares seen

opening up 5 percent after the reinsurer said it was in talks with SoftBank (Swiss: SOFB.SW - news) on a

potential minority stake.

(Helen Reid)

*****

EARNINGS, BANK OF ENGLAND IN FOCUS (0644 GMT)

Nevertheless there are other events in Europe today which should grab investors' attention,

with results still rolling in from big corporate players.

Banks are at the forefront today with Societe Generale (Swiss: 519928.SW - news) reporting forecast-beating

results despite quarterly profit plunging on tax-related and restructuring costs.

Commerzbank (Xetra: CBK100 - news) also flagged a 51 percent decline in Q4 profit, blaming weak

markets and its overhaul.

Other notable results include truck maker Volvo, which reported record profit,

and Swiss engineering group ABB (LSE: 0NX2.L - news) , which gave a brighter outlook for the year.

We'll also be closely watching the Bank of England's rate decision and inflation report -

particularly considering the past week's jitters over inflation.

SocGen (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) analysts expect the BoE (Shenzhen: 000725.SZ - news) to slightly raise growth and inflation forecasts.

"The MPC will be happy to see that the money market is now taking seriously its message of

further tightening," they write. "However the market has brought forward the expected timing of

rate increases compared to its view three months ago quite aggressively, and even though we

expect the tone of the report to be slightly more hawkish, we think it might not be enough to

validate the current Overnight Index Swap curve."

(Helen Reid)

*****

MORNING CALL: A SHORT-LIVED BOUNCE (0622 GMT)

Good morning and welcome to Live Markets.

That was nice while it lasted! European stocks are set to fall back again after a

short-lived recovery bounce yesterday, as Wall Street and Asian markets lost steam overnight.

Looks like those calls for volatility to stay high in the short- to medium-term were prescient.

Asian shares hovered near six-week lows as U.S. bond yields headed towards four-year highs,

keeping pressure on investors spooked by signs of rising inflation.

Spreadbetters call the DAX 108 points lower at 12,482, the CAC 40 down 47 points at 5,208.8,

and the FTSE down 56 points at 7,223.2. The damage done in the past fortnight is considerable:

the DAX ended yesterday 7.4 percent down from its record high hit as recently as Jan 23.

(Helen Reid)

*****

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Helen Reid, Kit Rees and Julien Ponthus)