LIVE MARKETS-On the radar: Insurers as virus pain spreads

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@thomsonreuters.com), Joice Alves (joice.alves@thomsonreuters.com) and Julien Ponthus (julien.ponthus@thomsonreuters.com) in London.

ON THE RADAR: INSURERS AS VIRUS PAIN SPREADS (0743 GMT)

One sector under the spotlight this morning is insurance after the EU called for a temporary freeze in dividends and share buybacks.

This week already saw shares in European banks tumble as lenders bowed to the ECB and BoE pressure to cut dividends to free some cash for precautionary capital buffers. More of the same?

Talking of dividend cuts, there’s plenty in store on that theme with for instance BAE Systems deferring its pay-out decision.

In general the news flow this morning is pretty much holding to the coronavirus crisis’ main trends, with for instance France’s Accor planning to shut two thirds of its hotels in the coming weeks and also cancelling its dividend.

Still in the travel and leisure segment, data now shows that international seat capacity has dropped by almost 80% from a year ago, unveiling the extent of the economic damage faced by the industry.

On that note, Polish national airline LOT is working on a rescue plan and will likely need state aid.

In another sector, H&M, the world's second-biggest clothing retailer, reported a 46% plunge in March sales while Thyssenkrupp, Germany's largest steelmaker, cut its output.

Signs that the pain is spreading to what was until recently thought of as consumer goods safe havens are multiplying with Nivea-maker Beiersdorf scrapping its 2020 outlook.

Another telling sign was Carlsberg suspending its outlook as beer drinkers under lockdown in key European markets opted for cheaper beers.

While empty supermarket shelves might have given the impression that consumer staples were emerging as winners of the crisis, the picture is more blurry: people going for daily essentials during less frequent visits to the supermarket take no chances with more expensive speciality beer and instead stick to the less pricey mainstream brands.

(Julien Ponthus)

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MORNING CALL: SHAKY WEEKLY GAINS (0634 GMT)

The STOXX 600 is just very slightly up for the week (+0.38%) but that's really not a given with European and U.S. futures currently trading in the red.

With growing doubts on Trump's claims of a robust Russian-Saudi deal to cut oil production, stock markets are seen losing some ground at the open.

In this context, a second straight week of gains seems uncertain at best.

There are also growing doubts as to whether yesterday's data showing a massive surge in U.S. unemployment has been properly digested and diligently integrated into Wall Street's EPS models.

(Julien Ponthus)

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