LIVE MARKETS-No denying futures are flat

Feb 19 - 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

NO DENYING FUTURES ARE FLAT (0711 GMT)

Very rarely are all main European futures unanimous on the direction of the trading session

but here you go: it's all very very flat:

(Julien Ponthus)

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THE LINE HOLDS (FOR NOW) (0627 GMT)

European bourses are expected to open just very slightly up this morning, with financial

spreadbetters expecting London's FTSE to open 8 points higher, Frankfurt's DAX up 11 points and

Paris' CAC to gain 9 points.

Nothing much has changed on the trade war front but cautious optimism about the Sino (Dusseldorf: 1205802.DU - news) /U.S.

talks should help European shares trade on highs not seen since October.

There's quite a lot of Q4 results already coming in to animate the session (HSCB, Danone (LSE: 0KFX.L - news) ...)

as well as important indicators (Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment).

The mood from Asia was roughly the same with shares hovering near four-month highs as

expectations of policy stimulus from central banks also lifted sentiment.

In other news, here's Paul Pogba's goal against FA Cup holders Chelsea which helped secure a

a place in the quarter-finals for Manchester United (NYSE: MANU - news) .

Here's a link to our slideshow: https://reut.rs/2Sbefkv

(Julien Ponthus)

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