LIVE MARKETS-So much to look forward to next week

* European stocks rally on strong PMI data * STOXX 600 hits fresh record high * UK PMI data casts doubt on BoE rate hike * Remy Cointreau drops heavily after weak Q3 results Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Joice Alves. Reach her on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: joice.alves.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net SO MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT WEEK (1615 GMT) There's news you just can't anticipate, like a deadly virus outbreak, a drone strike threatening a major Middle East war, market moving trade tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump, a disastrous profit warning that sets an entire sector on fire, the list goes on. But next week will be one for the history books. Brexit is happening! Big Ben may not be bonging but after more than three years of drama at 11pm and on the stroke of midnight in Brussels the UK will leave the European Union and venture into a brave new world. Of course, while news organisations around the world (including ours) are scrambling to shoot out a massive salvo of features and stories to mark the moment, for the financial markets it shouldn't be much of a story.(famous last words). But there's loads of planned news in store that might trigger some action on the trading floors with no less than the BOE on Thursday after the Fed on Wednesday. Between these two days it will be Q4 galore on both sides of the pond with - hold your breath - Novartis, Santander, Microsoft, Facebook, Boeing, AT&T, McDonalds, GE, Amazon, PayPal, Verizon, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Tesla, Deutsche Bank, Diageo, Shell, Unilever, H&M, Volvo, Roche, Sabadell... Monday we'll get the Germany Jan Ifo business confidence to get us in the mood and see whether the growth engine of the euro zone is actually ready to roar again. Not to say that Tuesday will be boring with LVMH, SAP, Tesla, Apple, eBay, Lockheed Martin and Pfizer among others. On that note, have a good weekend and for those still hanging around, your closing snapshot should hit the wire in a bit less than half an hour. (Julien Ponthus) ***** STOXX 600 TEASING UP AND DOWN THE RECORD HIGH LINE (1245 GMT) European stocks smoothly beat Wednesday's 424.94 points record this morning and have since being hovering up and down that level. The new all time high is now 425.36 points but there's little doubt the STOXX 600 could go even higher today should Wall Street, where future are trading 0.2% to 0.3% higher, open on a bullish note. Here's the STOXX 600 this morning teasing around the line: (Julien Ponthus) ***** CORONAVIRUS AND SPIRITS: THE SARS PRECEDENT (1226 GMT) After Remy Cointreau's CFO Luca Marotta said the company was "clearly concerned" over the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak, let's take a look at how SARS virus in 2003 hit the beer and spirits industry in China, one of the key markets for European spirits. SARS started in Southern China and killed hundreds of people across almost 40 countries, yet there is no clear evidence that people decided to ditch alchohol during the outbreak. Actually by the end of it, looking at Jefferies' graphs below, it seems that Chinese consumers didin't give up scotch and cognac. Back then, SARS had a small impact on the consumption of local spirits (Baiju), while cognac and scotch had a one-year minor slowdown in 2002, before accelerating in 2003-06. See the graphs: People also enjoyed their cold beers during the SARS outbreak. The beer market was remarkably resilient during the crisis partialy because beer growth had slowed in 2001-02 following a consumption tax increase in May 2001. Jefferies' equity research team said "the impact of the SARS virus on beer and spirits in China in 2003 points to a relatively modest impact on consumption". But yet, most global brands have exposure to China and they can't ignore any market disruption: Remy makes 20%, Carlsberg 15%, Pernod 10%, ABI 5%, Diageo 3% of theirs profits in the country. But even putting aside the virus scare, protests in Hong Kong have already hit demand for cognac and weighed on Remy Q3 results. The shares in the French group are down 8.9%. Here are more details on the new vius: FACTBOX-The latest on the coronavirus spreading in China and beyond Yesterday we also took a look to what happened to airlines during the SARs crisis (Joice Alves) ***** GREEN SHOOTS: A PMI DATA ROUND UP (1024 GMT) European stocks are at day highs after a slew of PMI data signalled that there is some growth recovery coming this year. The data showed Germany and the UK are likely to have had a promising start to 2020 driving their stock indexes 1.4% higher. The sharp rise in British and German stocks helped the pan-European STOXX 600 scale a fresh record peak and wipe-off steep losses from earlier this week on China virus scare. Industrial and construction stocks are among the top risers. "Sentiment among manufacturers is improving rapidly, meaning that expectations for a 2020 recovery are increasing," ING says. The 'phase one' trade deal, certainty about the Brexit timeline and, at least for now, no additional car tariffs are no longer holding back manufacturing output, it adds. In the UK, early readings of the IHS Markit/CIPS PMI showed the services sector returned to growth in January for the first time since August. The better-than-expected data left investors wondering if BoE will raise rates next week. (Thyagaraju Adinarayan) ***** CYCLICALS ON FIRE ON STRONG GERMAN PMIS European stocks, especially the cyclical names, got a much needed boost from the German flash PMI data which showed that the Europe's largest economy gained momentum in Jan as growth in services activity picked up and the pullback in manufacturing eased. IHS Markit's flash composite PMI rose to 51.1 from 50.2 the previous month -- the highest reading in five months and well ahead of a Reuters poll estimate of 50.5. The pan-European mining, capital goods and construction stocks are flying this morning on the German economy's promising start to 2020 -- a relief after the economy grew just 0.6% last year, its weakest since 2013. German blue-chip index DAX is up 1.4% on track for its best day since early November. (Thyagaraju Adinarayan) ***** OPENING SNAPSHOT: DRUG TRIALS KNOCK OUT IPSEN AND HK DRAGS REMY (0837 GMT) European bourses opened in positive territory driven by risk-on trades across the board with banks, miners and financial services topping the pan-European STOXX 600 index, which is up 1%. But the big ticket moves in single stocks were all negative with Ipsen falling as much as 16.5%, hitting its lowest in three years, after it paused dosing in Palovarotene drug trials. Remy Cointreau shares slid 9.7% after weak 3Q results, as demand for cognac in Hong Kong was hit by protests. Finally, Nokian Tyres shares fell 7.9% on dismal 2020 outlook and Ericsson fell 5.7% after Q4 results. Among risers, we have Carrefour rising 4% after reassuring profit outlook. Here's your opening snapshot at 0820 GMT: (Joice Alves) ***** ON OUR RADAR: BAYER, TAKEAWAY, JUST EAT, NOKIAN TYRES (0754 GMT) Futures point to a higher open for European bourses this morning after the World Health Organisation labelled the coronavirus outbreak an emergency for China, but not, as yet for the rest of the world. The big focus today will be on corporate news. Shares in Bayer are up 6.3% in premarket on report about a possible 10 billion dollars glyphosate settlement. In the UK, competition watchdog will probe Takeaway.com's buyout of Just Eat , possibly delaying completion of the multi-billion dollar deal. Meanwhile in corporate results, Remy Cointreau is seen down 5% by traders after it posted a worse-than-expected 11.3% fall in Q3 like-for-like revenues, as demand for cognac in Hong Kong was hit by protests. Tyre makers, such as Pirelli and Michelin, could come under pressure after Nokian Tyres is seen opening 7% lower on dismal 2020 outlook. Ericsson is also seen down after it reported Q4 core profit hit by slowdown in U.S. business and higher costs and it could push down Nokia. More headlines to digest: Axel Springer plans delisting from Frankfurt stock exchange Givaudan FY sales and profit up 6%, confirms guidance Helvetia buys majority stake in Spain's Caser for 780 mln euros (Joice Alves) ***** STOCKS SEEN HIGHER AS CORONAVIRUS NOT GLOBAL EMERGENCY YET(0635 GMT) European bourses are expected to open higher this Friday as markets steadied overnight, as investors took some solace from the World Health Organisation labelling the coronavirus outbreak an emergency for China, where 25 people have died and at least 800 have been infected, but not, as yet, for the rest of the world. Meantime, Asian shares held their ground as trade slowed for a week-long holiday for the Lunar New Year, despite investors fears that the coronavirus could spread faster as people travel for the holidays. Back in Europe, financial spreadbetters at IG expect London's FTSE to open 44 points higher at 7,552, Frankfurt's DAX to open 110 points higher at 13,498 and Paris' CAC to open 46 points higher at 6,018. It is also a slightly busy day for earnings with companies like Ericsson and Givaudan announcing results. Investors will also be watching the UK and the euro zone PMI figues, both expected to be released this morning. (Joice Alves) ***** (Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Joice Alves, Julien Ponthus and Thyagaraju Adinarayan)