LIVE MARKETS-Morning call: Tepid end to the week for European stocks

April 13 - 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

MORNING CALL: TEPID END TO THE WEEK FOR EUROPEAN STOCKS (0526 GMT)

Good morning.

Main European benchmarks are called very slightly lower this Friday the 13th, after a marked

recovery yesterday. Attention shifted yesterday to the U.S. earnings season expected to be very

strong, and today investors will watch reports from big banks JP Morgan and Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) closely.

"Recent price action might suggest that we could look to head towards the upper end of the

trading range in the coming days, particularly if U.S. earnings come in ahead of expectations,"

says CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX.L - news) ' Michael Hewson.

Over in Asia, trading was more muted on Chinese indices especially after data from China

showing March exports unexpectedly fell while imports grew more than forecast.

Spreadbetters call the DAX 2 points lower at 12,413, the CAC 40 down 4 points at 5,305, and

the FTSE 100 8 points lower at 7,250.

If all goes well today the STOXX 600 will seal its third straight week of gains, its longest

winning streak since the heady days of January when global equity markets were in a roaring

rally. Below you can see how much bigger weekly swings have been since then, with many saying

we're in a new volatility regime.

(Helen Reid)

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