LIVE MARKETS- Opening snapshot: Ex-divs, Capita and ITV

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), Julien Ponthus (julien.ponthus@tr.com) in London.

OPENING SNAPSHOT: EX-DIVS, CAPITA AND ITV (0845 GMT)

Some of the top movers today are Evraz, Rio Tinto, Persimmon, BHP, RSA and Standard Chart BK, which all went ex dividend.

Outsourcing group Capita is down as much as 17% after it reported a sharp rise in net debt in its FY results and said it will have to invest more than initially thought in its ongoing restructuring.

The pan European index is flat, while the FTSE 100 is down 0.4%.

Here is your snapshot of the main European bourses:

(Joice Alves)

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ON OUR RADAR: FLYBE, HUGO BOSS AND PROSIEBEN (0757 GMT)

Futures point to a high open for European bourses as investors found some relief in US multi billion funding bill to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

Italy is also likely to increase to 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) the value of measures to help the economy withstand the outbreak.

Meantime, airlines continue to be under massive pressure.

Flybe entered into administration, as the already struggling UK company failed to withstand the plunge in travel demand caused by the virus outspread.

The luxury retail space is also feeling the heat with German fashion house Hugo Boss' Q1 profit warning, with sales falling particularly in Asia.

Britain's biggest supermarket group, Tesco, will start price matching German-owned competitor Aldi on hundreds of everyday items, in its fight to stem the market share gains of its rival.

In the M&A front, ProSiebenSat Media said its e-commerce arm NuCom will buy U.S. dating app developer Meet Group Inc.

Staying in the media space, ITV reported better-than-expected 2019 earnings, but said ad demand was hit by coronavirus.

Other two German stocks are seen gaining ground: Vonovia, which confirmed its 2020 guidance, and Merck KGaA, which said adjusted core earnings will see "strong" growth.

(Joice Alves)

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STIMULUS TO COMBAT CORONAVIRUS: YES OR NO (0645 GMT)

There isn't a clear direction for the European bourses this morning as London's FTSE is seen lower after Britain pointed it is not certain yet if it will cut interests rates, while other main stock exchanges are seen open in the black mirroring Wall Street.

While the BoE's next governor Andrew Bailey said the UK central bank should wait until it has more clarity about the economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak before making any decision to cut interest rates, Wall Street found some relief in the strong performance of Biden in the Democratic nomination campaign and in an approved $8.3 billion funding bill to combat the spread of the virus.

Financial spreadbetters at IG expect London's FTSE to open 4 points lower at 6,811, Frankfurt's DAX to open 33 points higher at 12,161 and Paris' CAC to open 24 points higher at 5,489.

(Joice Alves)

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(Reporting by Joice Alves, Julien Ponthus and Thyagaraju Adinarayan)