LIVE MARKETS-Politics to remain centre stage in Europe

Nov 19 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Helen Reid. Reach her on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: helen.reid.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

POLITICS TO REMAIN CENTRE STAGE IN EUROPE (0649 GMT)

The focus on politics is unlikely to shift this week with all eyes on the UK as those opposed to Prime Minister May's draft Brexit deal may attempt to mount a leadership challenge and the special European Council meeting of Nov 25 approaches.

The ECB's Villeroy de Galhau, speaking in Tokyo just now, said the EU is ready in case of a no-deal Brexit which would be "very detrimental" for the British economy but have a "limited" effect on European GDP.

"Politics will remain high on the market’s agenda this coming week," write Societe Generale (Swiss: 519928.SW - news) analysts. "There is also the Eurogroup meeting today and Italian politics is never usually far from the news."

The Eurogroup meeting is dedicated to euro area reform in preparation for the December Summit, and topics on the agenda include reform of the European Stability Mechanism, the European Deposit Insurance Scheme, and the euro area stabilisation tool.

(Helen Reid)

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MORNING CALL: DRIFTING HIGHER AMID TRADE WAR PRESSURES (0629 GMT)

European stocks are seen inching up this morning after an eventful weekend with a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Papua New Guinea failing to agree on a communique for the first time in their history due to deep divisions between the U.S. and China over trade.

Share (LSE: SHRE.L - news) markets turned mixed in Asia on Monday amid conflicting signals on the prospects for a truce in the Sino (Dusseldorf: 1205802.DU - news) -U.S. trade dispute, while the Federal Reserve's newly-found concerns over the global economy constrained the dollar.

Sino-U.S. tensions were clearly on display at an APEC meeting in Papua New Guinea over the weekend, where leaders failed to agree on a communique for the first time ever.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said in a blunt speech that there would be no end to U.S. tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods until China changed its ways.

According to CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX.L - news) , the FTSE 100 is expected to open 2 points higher at 7,015, the DAX is seen opening 4 points higher at 11,345, and the CAC 40 is expected to open 6 points higher at 5,031.

(Helen Reid)

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(Reporting by Helen Reid, Danilo Masoni, Julien Ponthus)