LIVE MARKETS-Europe's fear index more fearful than the VIX

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 Thyagaraju Adinarayan (thyagaraju.adinarayan@tr.com), Joice Alves (joice.alves@tr.com) and Julien Ponthus (julien.ponthus@tr.com) in London. EUROPE'S FEAR INDEX MORE FEARFUL THAN THE VIX (1035 GMT) The STOXX 50 volatility index was almost at 50 this morning, a level last seen in 2011 at the height of the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis. Interesting to note that at the moment, the U.S.' VIX is still below 2018 and 2015 peaks. That being said, with Wall Street futures pointing to another fall, the VIX might very well catch up this afternoon. Talking about fear, a 'panic' keyword search across this morning's research notes yields a hefty number of hits: (Julien Ponthus) ***** BEARS AT THE GATE (0950 GMT) Correction? Tick! Bear market? Not quite there yet as the STOXX 600 is down 'only' 14% from its February 19 high but that's getting close to the 20% mark. But make no mistake there's a multitude of bears hiding in plain sight. Brent crude for instance is deep in bear territory, losing close to 30% from January highs and it has dragged down the STOXX oil and gas sectoral index with it. Basic materials stocks index are also over the 20% threshold along with travel and leisure and automotives. A lot of other sectors seem to be heading there like banks, down 17%. While Citi said in a global equity strategy note that its Bear Market Checklist is "still too low to call the start of the next major bear market", there's lots of analysts out there thinking it's a highly likely. "The problem is that once fear takes over, a 10% correction can become a 20% bear market in no time", wrote Neil Wilson at Markets.com. Jasper Lawler at LCG reckons "it seems a reasonable assumption that the coronavirus will not be contained so we are on course for a bear market". For Edward Moya at Oanda, "uncertainty over the magnitude of global quarantine efforts could easily take US stocks to bear market territory". Rabobank's Global Daily sums it up nicely: "We are now past a mere 10% technical correction and seem to be heading for a bear market, which is only logical when one considers the global backdrop. Indeed, the worst week for equities since 2008 surely beckons. Do you want to be long going into the weekend, even at these lower prices, when any number of worrying headlines may potentially hit the screens?" Here's the STOXX 600 falling from its February 19 high: (Julien Ponthus) ***** OPENING SNAPSHOT: ONLY 5 STOCKS UP ON THE STOXX 600 (0836 GMT) Let's start with the handful of shares which are not crashing down this morning: it's easy, there were only 3 at 0835 GMT! Among this happy few club, Rolls Royce is definitely the star performer, pulling off a 4.5% rise while the STOXX 600 is falling 3%. Its 2019 operating loss of 852 million pounds didn't eclipse record engine deliveries and a good after-market performance. Other winners aren't making any spectacular moves it's really downstream the overflowing red river that the action is. As expected travel and leisure stocks are taking another serious beating down 3% with airlines feeling the heat after British Airways-owner IAG said it was unable to give profit guidance for 2020 and EasyJet warning about a "significant" softening of demand. The travel and leisure sector has entered bear market with a fall of about 25% from its February high. Interesting to note that utilities, which is the only sector left year-to-date in the black is down 3.5%. Here are the main regional indexes: (Julien Ponthus) **** $5 TRILLION AND COUNTING... (0809 GMT) Another day, another stock market plunge! That plunge has now taken market value losses in global equities to $5 trillion in the last week. That's almost as much as Japan's annual GDP. Here's a quick five-day market value loss chart (as of yesterday): (Thyagaraju Adinarayan) ***** ON THE RADAR: MORE GLOOM FOR TRAVEL AND LEISURE (0752 GMT) Despite Wall Street’s plunge yesterday there is absolutely no “buy-the-dip” sentiment floating around. Uncertainty is high, and that’s illustrated by British Airways-owner IAG which said it was unable to give profit guidance for 2020 with the virus knocking travel demand. Europe’s travel and leisure index is down 14.5% so far this year and it’s likely not the end of it as one can see with EasyJet. The budget airline’s shares are expected to go down this morning after it warned about a "significant" softening of demand. Still in the sector, Amadeus CEO confirmed the outbreak will have an impact on the travel industry and the group's business this year. Good result, such as for BASF, might help companies weather the storm better than their peers. On the other hand, Munich Re and its 9% profit drop from natural catastrophes may not help much. Shares are falling 7% at the moment. On top of that, resinsurers might have a mighty bill to pay for the coronavirus epidemic. Rolls-Royce’s 2019 operating loss of 852 million pounds may also no go down very well despite engine deliveries and a good after-market performance. ThyssenKrupp’s sale of its elevator unit seems however to be doing the trick with its shares rising in early trades. Still on the M&A agenda, LSE said it was on track to close the Refinitiv deal. The spotlight will also be on biotechnology company Novacyt which announced deals for its "Primerdesign" product which is aimed at testing for the coronavirus. Another way to fend off sellers is with a increased pay-out, just like Austrian lender Erste Group which said it would propose a dividend increase after reporting a flat operating result for its fourth quarter. (Julien Ponthus) ***** BIG EARNINGS DAY: WHO CARES? (0652 GMT) With the coronavirus scare causing mayhem across financial markets, you would be forgiven to forget the fact that we are still in the thick of the earnings season. Not that it matters much as trading based on fundamentals is not exactly the name of the game today with European indexes expected to fall over 4%. Big names are due though, such as BASF, CRH, LSE or Man Group. For the top news or European equities, click on Anyhow, for what it's worth here a list of the trading updates expected this morning: (Julien Ponthus) ***** MORNING CALL: SET FOR THE WORST WEEK SINCE 2008 (0625 GMT) The STOXX 600 is already down 9% this week and given that DAX, STOXX 50 and FTSE futures are already falling about 4%, we're clearly set for the worst week since the financial crisis in 2008. European bourses are bracing themselves for a brutal session after the S&P 500 experienced its fastest correction in history and the Dow registered a record one-day points drop. The U.S. fear index, the VIX, has surged close to 40 and its European cousin is currently at its highest level since 2016. Oil prices are locked in a worrying trend and on track for their biggest weekly decline in more than four years. To have a look at the latest development of the coronavirus crisis which is causing mayhem on financial markets please click here: (Julien Ponthus) ***** (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Joice Alves, Julien Ponthus and Thyagaraju Adinarayan)