LIVE MARKETS-Opening snapshot: top movers

* European shares up 0.5 pct

* Slew of earnings dominate trading

* NEX Group jumps 7 pct after revenues rise

* TDC (LSE: 0MOP.L - news) tumbles on deal to buy

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real time coverage of European equity markets

brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Danilo Masoni. Reach him on

Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: danilo.masoni.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

OPENING SNAPSHOT: TOP MOVERS (0817 GMT)

Return of the melt-up? European stocks are striding into February with strong gains led by

banking and tech stocks.

Among notable movers after results, Bic (EUREX: 512380.EX - news) is down 6.7 percent while NEX Group

is top of the STOXX, up 7.4 percent after revenues rose. The financial technology firm

benefited from markets it said were 'noticeably' more active this year.

Meanwhile Shell took a 5 percent dive at the open and is now down 1.8 percent, the

worst-performing on the FTSE 100. It seems the cashflow might be what the market's taking issue

with. "Unfortunately, resilient earnings do not appear to have translated into cash generation

this quarter," write RBC analysts.

Dealmaking is still a feature too with Denmark's TDC tumbling 10.7 percent after

saying it would buy Swedish Modern Times Group's broadcasting and entertainment

business.

(Helen Reid)

*****

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE EUROPE OPENS (0748 GMT)

European shares are expected to open higher on the first day of February with futures up

around 0.4-0.5 percent following a weak end of January, which was marked by jitters over rising

bond yields and a stronger euro.

Earnings will be a key focus with heavyweights such as oil major Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: 0LN9.L - news)

and drugmaker Roche having already reported results. Profits at Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) more than doubled,

slightly beating analyst expectations, although traders indicated the stock 1-2 percent lower

citing weak cash flow. Net (LSE: 0LN0.L - news) income at Roche fell as sales growth was broadly in line with

expectations.

Consumer goods maker Unilever (NYSE: UL - news) delivered better than expected fourth-quarter sales

growth, a possible relief for a sector which has been hit this year by a rotation back into

cyclical stocks. Its shares were indicated 1 percent higher.

Overall fourth-quarter earnings for the STOXX 600 are expected to increase by 11.9

percent year on year, the latest Thomson Reuters (Dusseldorf: TOC.DU - news) data showed.

In M&A news, traders mentioned as possibly market-moving a Bloomberg report saying BHP

is mulling a split of its US shale unit to speed up the sale of the business it values

at $10 billion.

(Danilo Masoni)

*****

EUROPEAN STOCKS HEADLINE ROUND-UP (0733 GMT)

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) so many results coming in today, we've rounded up some of the most important we're

watching:

Shell's 2017 profits more than double

Unilever fourth-quarter sales better than expected

Daimler (IOB: 0NXX.IL - news) warns spending on new technology to dampen earnings growth

Vodafone's growth edges lower in Europe, but still on track for year

Nokia (Milan: 23568.MI - news) top quarterly expectations, buoyed by patent payment

Roche expects 2018 profit to grow faster than sales[

BT's Openreach ramps up fibre broadband rollout

Microsoft (Euronext: MSF.NX - news) 's cloud computing business grows, stock edges up

Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) forecasts rising ad sales despite dip in usage

Novo Nordisk (LSE: 0QIU.L - news) posts Q4 results slightly below expectations, chairman to step down

BBVA Q4 net profit falls 90 pct after Telefonica (LSE: 826858.L - news) stake writedown

Denmark's TDC to buy MTG's Nordic Entertainment and Studios

Denmark's Orsted beats Q4 forecasts on strong wind operations

DNB Q4 beats forecast despite rise in digital investment

Dassault Systemes (Swiss: DSY.SW - news) posts double-digit growth in new licences revenue

Lundin Petroleum (LSE: 0NNR.L - news) launches dividend payments

Skanska (LSE: 0HBT.L - news) construction order intake just lags expectations

UK's Rank interim profit jumps on strong online business

Vivendi CEO optimistic about talks with Mediaset (LSE: 0NE1.L - news) over pay-TV dispute

Oreo maker Mondelez's profit beats on higher demand for key brands

Melrose (LSE: 136541.L - news) to publish formal bid document for GKN (Frankfurt: 694194 - news) on Thursday - source

Britain's Cranswick (LSE: CWK.L - news) says Q3 revenue ahead on strong Christmas

NEX Group says markets "noticeably" more active since start of 2018

British private equity group 3i posts increase in net asset value per share

Ocado promotes Luke Jensen to executive director role​

(Tom Pfeiffer)

*****

FUTURES POINT TO BOUNCEBACK FOR EUROPEAN STOCKS (0717 GMT)

Futures have opened markedly higher this morning, pointing to a convincing bounceback for

the European stock market after a weak end to January. As we pointed out earlier, it's all about

earnings today, and UK companies' results have just hit the wire with heavyweights Unilever (Amsterdam: UZ8.AS - news)

and Shell reporting as well as Vodafone.

(Helen Reid)

*****

EARNINGS, EARNINGS, EARNINGS (0642 GMT)

It's going to be another busy day for corporate eanings with some big heavyweights like

drugmaker Roche, bank BBVA (LSE: 931474.L - news) and Nokia

having already released their numbers earlier on.

Overall fourth-quarter earnings for the STOXX 600 are expected to increase by 11.9 percent

year on year, the latest Thomson Reuters data showed.

Here's your full list of companies reporting today:

AB SKF Q4 2017 Earnings Release

AcadeMedia AB Q2 2018 Earnings Call

Aptiv PLC Q4 2017 Earnings Call

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA Q4 2017 Earnings Call

CapMan Oyj Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Cimpress NV Q2 2018 Earnings Call

Coloplast A/S Q1 2018 Earnings Call

Core Laboratories NV Q4 2017 Earnings Call

Daimler AG Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Dassault Systemes SE FY 2017 Earnings Call

DNB ASA Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Eaton Corporation PLC Q4 2017 Earnings Call

Ferrari NV Q4 2017 Earnings Call

Granges AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Inwido AB (LSE: 0QXM.L - news) (publ) Q4 2017 Earnings Release

JM AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Kesko Oyj Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Lemminkainen Oyj FY 2017 Earnings Call

Lundin Petroleum AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Modern Times Group MTG AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Nokia Oyj Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Novo Nordisk A/S Q4 2017 Earnings Call

OM Asset Management PLC Q4 & FY 2017 Earnings Call

Orsted A/S Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Panostaja Oyj Annual Shareholders Meeting

Petroleum Geo Services ASA Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Qiagen NV Q4 2017 Earnings Call

Rank Group PLC HY 2018 Earnings Release

Roche Holding AG FY 2017 Earnings Release

Royal Dutch Shell PLC Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Sensata Technologies Holding NV Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Skanska AB Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Stolt-Nielsen Ltd Q4 & FY 2017 Earnings Call

Unilever PLC Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Yit Oyj Q4 2017 Earnings Release

(Danilo Masoni)

*****

MORNING CALL: EUROPE SEEN HIGHER (0617 GMT)

Good morning and welcome to Live Markets.

European stocks are set for a positive open on the first day of February, recovering the

slight losses seen in the previous session when the broader STOXX 600 index fell for a

third straight session to its lowest level in almost four weeks. The STOXX ended January up 1.6

percent.

Overnight Asian shares eked out modest gains, clawing back sharp losses from earlier this

week, however, rising U.S. bond yields and interest rates could dampen investors' optimism

toward the global economic outlook.

Here are your opening calls, courtesy of CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX.L - news) .

FTSE100 is expected to open 23 points higher at 7,556

DAX is expected to open 41 points higher at 13,230

CAC40 is expected to open 14 points higher at 5,495

(Danilo Masoni)

*****

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