LIVE MARKETS-ECB expectations: not huge

* European stocks rise, autos jump

* Trump agrees with EU to work to lower trade barriers

* Big results day: BAT, AstraZeneca, Airbus rise after updates

* ECB seen staying on hold

LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity

markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Kit Rees. Reach her on

Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: kit.rees.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

ECB EXPECTATIONS: NOT HUGE (1107 GMT)

Yes, we've got an ECB rate decision today. Hard to believe given all of the trade stuff and

earnings going on, which might be just as well given that investors aren't expecting any

fireworks at this one.

"The only potential drama today comes from economists betting on what color tie ECB

President Draghi will wear at the press conference," Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global

Wealth Management, says.

The ECB is widely expected to keep rates on hold, given that it said last month that it had

decided to end its 2.6 trillion euro ($3.0 trillion) bond buying scheme by the end of the year,

"We should expect the ECB to deliberately talk down the prospect of rate hikes until QE is

well out of the way. This makes a rate increase unlikely until mid-2019," Dario Perkins,

managing director, global macro at TS Lombard, says.

Meanwhile European stocks are holding on to gains, driven by autos and earnings.

(Kit Rees)

*****

TRUMP-JUNCKER DEAL. TIPPING POINT OR TEMPORARY RELIEF? (0959 GMT)

World stocks have hit four month highs after Trump and Juncker agreed to launch negotiations

to cut other trade barriers, easing the threat of a transatlantic trade war.

Although the positive market reaction, especially in Europe, is tangible, investors appear

to be undecided over whether this is a big breakthrough or just a temporary relief, especially

as the deal looks to be quite bad for China and that autos were left out of the statement https://goo.gl/Rj4LX7.

Here are a few views:

* Deutsche Bank: "It's worth noting that trade in vehicles and car parts was left out of the

statement... Signs of a compromise are clearly more significant for now in markets with the

threat of an all-out trade war receding. That said DB's Alan Ruskin made the point last night

that caution is still warranted, most obviously on what this might mean for US-China trade

relations where problems are more deep-seated."

* Rabobank strategist Michael Every: "So Mr Juncker went to Washington - and he got a deal.

A

really big deal. One that looks to be a huge win for the US, a reasonable achievement for

Europe, and a disaster for China."

* UniCredit: "Investor confidence may still be limited because the automotive sector remains

excluded from the agreement for the time being. In principle, market participants now have the

opportunity to lower their assessment of the risk of an economic slowdown caused by the trading

conflict."

* Quilter Investors fund manager Sacha Chorley: "The Trump–Juncker meeting was a potential

tipping

point that could have prompted the fledgling trade war to spiral into something more damaging.

Thankfully, we seem to have been rescued from the brink and there will now be plenty of optimism

that the US-EU confrontation will cool off."

(Danilo Masoni)

*****

OPENING SNAPSHOT: AUTOS REV HIGHER AS U.S.-EU TRADE TENSIONS EASE (0733 GMT)

European shares have opened higher, thanks to strong gains for autos stocks as the U.S. and

EU make progress in dialling down trade tensions, while results have boosted shares in Airbus,

Smith & Nephew and British American Tobacco.

Here's your opening snapshot:

(Kit Rees)

*****

ON THE RADAR AHEAD OF THE EUROPEAN OPEN (0639 GMT)

Thawing U.S.-EU trade tensions are set to propel European stocks, with futures for the

exporter-heavy DAX up 1.2 percent.

The trade breakthrough comes on a very busy earnings day for Europe, with big hitters

including Shell, Airbus, Diageo, AstraZeneca, Roche, AB InBev and Schneider Electric all giving

updates.

Of note are Daimler's results in which its Q2 profit dropped 30 percent. This follows the

all-too-familiar pattern seen at peers GM, Fiat and Ford where the trade tensions between the

U.S. and China have resulted in them cutting forecasts (Daimler did so last month).

Facebook's tumble in after-hours trading could put a dampener on tech stocks today, so

that's another area to watch.

Here are some more headlines:

Shell launches $25 bln buyback plan, Q2 profits misses

Diageo's sales up despite currency headwind

Smith & Nephew sticks to full-year view as established markets recover

New drugs help as AstraZeneca battles through generic losses

French oil major Total's Q2 profits jump on new record output

Spain's DIA risks guidance as core profit keeps falling

Anglo American confirms Quellaveco copper project, H1 earnings rise

Relx maintains revenue growth trajectory, reiterates outlook

Spain's Repsol Q2 adjusted net profit rises 23 percent y/y

Puma lifts sales target after solid second quarter

Austria's Verbund beats Q2 profit helped by good water supply

Dutch telco KPN beats estimates with slight rise in core profit

French retailer Casino to sell 15 pct of Mercialys, keeps goals

Schroders posts 8 pct rise in H1 pretax profit, assets up

UK caterer Compass posts lower margins on UK challenges

Russia's Polymetal says Q2 revenue up 13 pct y/y

Britain's Sky reports 9 percent rise in core earnings

Virgin Money reports 10 pct rise in H1 profit

AccorHotels drops plan to buy minority stake in Air France-KLM

German consumer morale slips heading into August

(Kit Rees)

*****

EUROPEAN EARNINGS: BUSY, BUSY, BUSY (0604 GMT)

European stocks futures have opened higher on what is a very busy earnings day. Autos are

definitely going to be in focus following Daimler's results, in which the carmaker's

second-quarter profit tumbled 30 percent, citing tariffs as one of the contributing factors.

This follows a pattern seen in results from General Motors, Fiat and Ford.

Here are key earnings-related headlines so far this morning:

Daimler Q2 profit hit by WLTP emissions, clouding outlook

AB InBev gets World Cup boost to beat expectations

Schneider Electric raises FY outlook again; sees growth across businesses, regions

Roche raises 2018 outlook as new drugs gain traction

Deutsche Boerse Q2 net profit up 19 pct on higher volatility

Airbus Q2 core profit doubles after A350 cost improvements

Nestle expects better H2 after quarterly growth beats poll

Spain's Bankia posts 36 pct rise in Q2 profit on lower provisions

Nokia posts weak profits, sees 5G boost later in 2018

Telecoms group Orange Q2 core operating profits rise 3 percent

Spain's Telefonica H1 core profit down 0.9 percent

French reinsurer Scor's net profit hit by U.S. tax reform in Q2

Valeo cuts 2018 profit outlook, blaming new emissions tests

France's Ingenico cuts core profit outlook on Iran exit, currency headwinds

Suez sells 20 pct of U.S. water business for $601 mln, H1 earnings robust

France's Klepierre raises guidance on strong leasing activity

Sika reports better-than-expected H1 profit

Essilor keeps financial targets, says Luxottica deal on track

Covestro ups profit guidance on strong plastics demand

Equinor Q2 adj operating income lags forecast due Norway maintenance

(Kit Rees)

*****

OPENING CALL: EUROPEAN SHARES SET TO RALLY (0533 GMT)

Good morning. European shares are expected to open higher, according to financial

spreadbetters, after the European Union offered trade concessions in talks with U.S. President

Donald Trump.

Spreadbetters expect Britain's FTSE to open 0.1 percent higher, Germany's DAX to climb 0.7

percent and France's CAC to gain 0.4 percent.

The thawing in trade tensions helped Wall Street rise, though we're seeing signs of pain in

tech stocks after Facebook's shares tumbled in extended trade after it warned about slowing

growth and climbing expenses.

Asian shares were lacklustre, however, with worries over the impact of trade frictions on

growth weighing on China and Hong Kong stocks.

(Kit Rees)

(Reporting by Kit Rees and Danilo Masoni)