LIVE MARKETS-Morning headline roundup: dealmaking in focus

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

MORNING HEADLINE ROUNDUP: DEALMAKING IN FOCUS (0643 GMT)

European shares are expected to open higher but not enough to erase yesterday losses, let

alone the pain suffered since last Friday when the trade dispute between the U.S. and China

intensified. The reassuring news of a Franco-German deal on the future of the Euro zone is

clearly not enough to compensate.

Theresa May’s Brexit showdown in Parliament could also animate the session in the UK with a

possible impact on the pound.

Here are the main headlines that caught our attention this morning and looks there is some

dealmaking activity that could liven up the session:

DSM to target acquisitions for nutritional division

French utility Engie (LSE: 0LD0.L - news) to get 2.6 bln euros from Glow Energy sale

VW, Ford confirm talks on possible commercial vehicle tie-up

Dialog Semiconductor (LSE: 0OLN.L - news) to proceed with due diligence to take over Synaptics

Ferragamo family holding to sell 3.5 percent in Italian luxury group

BHP to sell Chilean copper mine to private equity fund

Basler Kantonalbank Intends To Increase Stake In Bank Cler To 100 Pct

UK builder Berkeley beats profit expectations

Legal & General (LSE: LGEN.L - news) targets 8-10 percent profit growth with new strategy

U.S. Marines award amphibious vehicle deal to BAE

Maersk family foundation to pump money into hot water heating

Maersk poaches new finance chief from Assa Abloy (LSE: 0R87.L - news)

Norwegian salmon export price up to NOK 65.00 last week -SSB

Richemont announces delisting of ordinary shares of Yoox Net-A-Porter

Swiss gearmaker Klingelnberg prices IPO at 53 Sfr per share

Caterpillar (LSE: 0Q18.L - news) , Volvo, Komatsu (Other OTC: KMTUF - news) linked to mining abuses in Myanmar - report

(Danilo Masoni)

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EUROPEAN FUTURES RISE AT THE OPEN (0615 GMT)

European futures have opened up but not enough to erase yesterday's losses.

Concerns that the trade dispute between China and the U.S. could yet further escalate is

keeping investors on their toes.

(Julien Ponthus)

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MISERY LOVES COMPANY: DOW JOINS EUROPEAN INDEXES WITH YTD LOSS (0606 GMT)

The pan-European STOXX is no longer standing alone in negative territory for 2018: it has

been joined by the Dow Jones, which is now posting a year-to-date loss of 0.08 percent.

Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday as the escalation in the trade dispute between the

United States and China rattled markets.

One noticeable fact is that tech shares on both sides of the Atlantic (Shanghai: 600558.SS - news) remain clear winners

with the Nasdaq (Frankfurt: 813516 - news) and the European tech index comfortably up over 10 percent.

(Julien Ponthus)

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MORNING CALL: POSITIVE OPEN IN SIGHT (0528 GMT)

European shares are expected to open slightly higher this morning. The rise foreseen by

spreadbetters could nevertheless fall short of the kind of rebound one could expect after three

sessions in the red.

In China, the Shanghai Composite Index is back in positive territory, up 0.2 percent in

choppy trade, a day after falling 3.8 percent to a two-year low. MSCI (Frankfurt: 3HM.F - news) 's broadest index of

Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose more strongly, over 1 percent.

Financial spreadbetters expect London's FTSE to open 15 points higher, Frankfurt's DAX 5

points up and Paris' CAC to rise 13 points.

(Julien Ponthus)

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