LIVE MARKETS-Saving the UK high street, one vegan sausage roll at a time

* European shares open lower

* ECB could unveil plans for cheap bank loans

* Earnings still in focus

* In Asia, shares sluggish

March 7 - 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

SAVING THE UK HIGH STREET, ONE VEGAN SAUSAGE ROLL AT A TIME (1011 GMT)

There's a real media frenzy out there on how the launch of the now infamous vegan sausage

roll boosted the sales of Greggs and help propel its shares to new record highs.

The hype around the quorn-based delicacy is now seen as a marketing masterpiece which is

fast rebranding Greggs, until very recently seen as a no-frills, resolutely un-hipster

food-to-go chain focusing on hearty and filling, non-dietary snacks.

But beyond the praises received in the likes of PR Week (here's a link: https://bit.ly/2RuWUGZ)

for its "masterclass in public relations", the vegan sausage roll may actually offer a glimmer

of hope for the UK high street.

"Greggs is one of those businesses which has shrugged off the doom and gloom currently

engulfing the UK high street," writes Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"We don’t know how many of the vegan rolls the baker is actually selling, but the publicity

is getting customers through the door one way or the other," he adds, noting that "like WHSmith,

Greggs has been quite canny about where its stores are located, shifting outlets away from

traditional shopping centres towards travel hubs and workplace locations."

Looking at the share price of Greggs, one has to admit that it looks more like a crypto or a

Canadian cannabis stock than a share in UK high street.

(Julien Ponthus and Helen Reid)

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ECB STIMULUS SPECULATION FAILS TO LIFT STOCKS (0854 GMT)

European indexes have opened in the red with losses limited to about 0.5 percent, and it

seems that speculation of a new round of TLTRO isn't the doing the magic many expected.

Banking stocks in that respect aren't doing as good as expected and are actually trading in

the red, down 0.4 percent, but the fate of the session still seems linked to the ECB meeting

later today.

Basic materials stocks were the biggest losers, down about 2 percent with coppers prices

dragging the sector.

In terms of individual stocks, German media group Axel Springer made a spectacular fall,

down close to 7 percent.

(Julien Ponthus)

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE THE OPEN (0741 GMT)

European shares are expected to open lower today ahead of a much anticipated European

Central Bank meeting that is expected to slash growth forecasts and hint at a new round of

ultra-cheap loans for euro zone banks. Futures on main country benchmarks point to losses of

0.3-0.5 percent as a rebound in the region’s stock market stalls near 5-month highs.

Bank stocks have already risen sharply in anticipation of the new loans and investors expect

some profit taking could eventually kick in before the scheme's details are hammered out.

Italian banks and Spanish ones are the most sensitive to the measure, having taken the bulk

of the previous round of cheap funding from the ECB.

Still in banks, reports said Italy's biggest retail bank Intesa Sanpaolo is in talks to sell

about 10 billion euros in unlikely-to-pay property loans, signalling more progress in Italian

banks' effort to clean up their books.

Elsewhere, a number of earning updates especially in Germany could liven up the session.

There is good news for fashion investors after German house Hugo Boss said it expected its

operating profit to rise faster than sales in 2019, sending its shares up more than 2 percent in

pre-market trade.

Deutsche Post is also expected to gain after group said a restructuring programme in its

German post-and-parcel division will help boost profit this year, while publisher Axel Springer

and insurer Hannover RE are both seen falling more than 2 percent following their updates.

And here are some more market-moving headlines from the UK and, as you can see, there are

lots of earnings for investors to digest:

Melrose full-year adjusted pretax profit nearly triples

National Grid to buy U.S-based wind and solar energy developer

Inmarsat's fourth quarter earnings up 15 pct

UK real estate agent Countrywide sees more headwinds in 2019

UK's Greggs 2018 profit up 10 pct, "very strong" start to 2019

Aviva FY operating profit up 2 pct after life insurance boost

Cairn Homes FY Rev More Than Doubles, To Pay Dividend

Insurer Admiral warns on economic disruption from a "hard Brexit"

Schroders FY pretax profit down 15 pct on higher costs, fall in assets

(Danilo Masoni)

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FORGET STOCKS FUTURES, CHECK OUT ITALIAN YIELDS! (0728 GMT)

The most important indicator for today's incoming session might not be equity futures -

which are down between 0.3 pct and 0.5 pct - but rather Italian bond yield which are retreating

to seven-month lows for the 2-year.

What does that tell us about the ECB meeting? Mhhh?

Well TLTRO speculation is intensifying. As far as banking stocks are concerned, while an

announcement or even a hint of a new round of ECB cheap loans could help prop up euro zone

lenders, ruling out a new batch of refinancing could on the opposite have a dire impact.

Here's the Italian 2-year:

(Julien Ponthus and Abhinav Ramnarayan)

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ON OUR RADAR: EYES ON INTESA, RESULTS FROM MERCK, D.POST, VONOVIA (0638 GMT)

Turning to the corporate front, the Italian banking sector could be in focus this morning

after a source said the country's biggest retail bank Intesa Sanpaolo is in talks to

sell 10 billion euro in impaired loans, while Merck, Deutsche Post, Vonovia

and LafargeHolcim are also on the watch list after their earning updates.

Deutsche Telekom is another onte to watch after Bloomberg reported that U.S.

state antitrust enforcers are expressing deep concerns that T-Mobile US' proposed

takeover of Sprint could raise prices for consumers, signalling they might seek to thwart

the deal.

Here's your early morning headlines roundup:

Italy's Intesa in talks to sell 10 bln euros in impaired loans - source

Merck KGaA says currency headwinds quell drug gains in Q4

Deutsche Post sees profit hike in 2019, no sign of slowdown

Acquisitions help Vonovia's core profit rise 16 pct in 2018

LafargeHolcim expects sales growth of 3 to 5 percent in 2019

GE explores stake sale in Enel renewables joint venture -sources

Rusal posts $17 mln Q4 net loss, sees demand recovery

(Danilo Masoni)

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EUROPE SET FOR A WEAKER OPEN AHEAD OF ECB MEETING (0620 GMT)

European shares are expected to open lower today ahead of a much-anticipated European

Central Bank meeting that could announce plans for a new round of ultra-cheap bank loans, as the

outlook for the euro zone economy worsens.

Financial spreadbetters at IG expect Frankfurt's DAX to open 29 points lower at 11,558,

Paris' CAC to open 10 points lower at 5,279 and London's FTSE to open 34 points lower at 7,162.

In the previous session the STOXX 600 regional benchmark hit fresh five month highs before

pulling back and end just below parity.

Over in Asia, shares eased with caution prevailing as investors awaited some kind of

resolution to Sino-U.S. trade negotiations.

(Danilo Masoni)

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