LIVE MARKETS-European stock movers a la carte: earnings provide support

* European shares edge higher

* Dow ends above 26,000

* Asian stocks hit record highs

* Dollar pulls back from three-year lows

Jan 18 (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

TOP MOVERS A LA CARTE: EARNINGS PROVIDE SUPPORT (0826 GMT)

The broader market is inching up around 30 minutes after the opening bell, masking bigger

moves for single stocks, with a series of well-received earnings updates providing support.

Top gainers on the STOXX 600 are Geberit (IOB: 0QQ2.IL - news) , Balfour Beatty (Other OTC: BAFBF - news) and Carrefour (Swiss: CA.SW - news)

, all up more than 2 percent after their updates, while Britvic (Stuttgart: A0HMX9 - news) , Infineon

and Hargreaves were supported by upbeat broker notes.

Among the losers are utility SSE (LSE: SSE.L - news) after reports that a UK price cap law should be

passed by the summer, while a downgrade hit Rightmove (LSE: RMV.L - news) and BPER Banca fell

after a Reuters story raised fresh worries over Italian banks' bad loans.

British drugs company BTG (Frankfurt: 908827 - news) is down 5 percent after a U.S. patent on J&J's Zytiga was

invalidated. BTG earns royalties on the drug.

Engineering company GKN (Frankfurt: 694194 - news) ratcheted up the rhetoric over the hostile bid from Melrose (LSE: 136541.L - news)

, calling its offer "misleading", accusing Melrose of offering a "fake premium" and

saying the combination would bring no industrial synergies. Investors are betting on some sort

of deal: GKN shares were trading at 447 pence, compared to Melrose's offer worth 430.1 pence,

based on the suitor's Jan. 16 closing price.

(Danilo Masoni)

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OPENING SNAPSHOT: HIGHER (0807 GMT)

European shares have opened higher in a bounce inspired by another record close at Wall

Street. Here is your snapshot:

(Danilo Masoni)

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THREE HOT "SPECIAL SITS" (0754 GMT)

Here's the latest on 3 hot European "special sits":

* Activist investor Sachem Head is asking Whitbread (Frankfurt: WHF4.F - news) to consider splitting the Costa Coffee

chain away from its hotels and restaurant businesses

* Steinhoff: Jayendra Naidoo resigns as a member of the supervisory board.

* The largest shareholder in Belgian biotech group Ablynx (LSE: 0HNK.L - news) said the 2.6 billion euro offer

made by Denmark's Novo Nordisk (LSE: 0QIU.L - news) is too low but that it is willing to consider a higher offer.

(Julien Ponthus)

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BULLISH SECTOR, BULLISH HEADLINES (0720 GMT)

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) an 8.8 percent rise since the beginning of the year, European car makers are the best -

by far - performing sector, something you can get a sense of when reading this morning's

headlines.

In a nutshell, while Renault (LSE: 0NQF.L - news) and Volkswagen (IOB: 0P6N.IL - news) are fighting over who can claim the crown of the

world's leading automobile group, Peugeot (Other OTC: PUGOF - news) is planning to use the know-how of former

Opel engineers acquired from General Motors (NYSE: GM - news) to re-enter the U.S. market.

At the opposite end, retail, which is up a slim 0.75 percent in comparison with 2.3 percent

for the STOXX 600, is enjoying less glamourous headlines, with France's Carrefour (LSE: 0NPH.L - news) cutting its

profit forecast for the second time in six months before presenting a new strategic plan

. That comes a day after another French supermarket group, Casino, disappointed

analysts with its 2017 profit growth guidance in its core French business.

(Julien Ponthus)

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FUTURES POINT TO POSITIVE OPEN FOR EUROPEAN SHARES (0706 GMT)

Futures seem to confirm that European shares are set to join their U.S. and Asian peers' in

a global rally.

(Julien Ponthus)

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MORNING CALL: EUROPEAN SHARES SET TO JOIN GLOBAL RALLY (0617 GMT)

Good morning and welcome to Live Markets. It seems European shares are set to join the

global rally, which has lifted the Dow above 26,000 points and boosted Asian shares to new

highs.

Financial spreadbetters expect Frankfurt's DAX to open 76 points higher, Paris' CAC up 26

points and London's FTSE 8 points higher.

(Julien Ponthus)

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