LIVE MARKETS-Spanish banks, French telcos on menu for more M&A

* European shares fall back

* Tech stocks suffer after Asian selloff on trade fears

* H&M recovers after upbeat CEO comments

* Eyes on EU summit

LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - 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

SPANISH BANKS, FRENCH TELCOS ON MENU FOR MORE M&A (1042 GMT)

Europe's love affair with M&A shows no signs of ending with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) analysts saying

that 2018 is on track to hit 2015's record M&A volumes.

For the first time in 12 years the average premium for targets in both North America and

Western Europe have converged, they note.

Here are the key points and changes GS have made in the semi-annual rebalance of their

basket of Western European M&A targets. Inclusion in the basket means they reckon the stock has

a 15% plus probability of being acquired.

- One-third of the basket is UK-domiciled (we have previously highlighted the increase in UK

M&A!)

- The basket is overweight industrials and consumer discretionary sectors, and underweight

financials

- They add Unicaja Banco and Banco Sabadell as they see a second leg of consolidation for

Spain's banking sector

- Among tech stocks, Ingenico (Paris: FR0000125346 - news) and Micro Focus were both added with an M&A rank of 2 (15-30

percent likelihood of acquisition)

- They also add Altice (Other OTC: ATSVF - news) and Iliad (LSE: 0MGY.L - news) on increased expectation of French telco consolidation;

- Their utilities team sees European utilities entering a new cycle of M&A, and they add Gas

Natural (pointing to private equity firms now being big shareholders), EDP and EDP Renovaveis (EUREX: EDRF.EX - news) .

(Kit Rees)

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EVIL CONTRARIAN BETS AGAINST ENGLAND (1011 GMT)

Nope, this is not about the pound falling to its lowest level since last November ahead of

today's EU summit or about Theresa May's attempts to sell Brexit to her European peers.

This is about the World Cup and how "Evil Knievil", a veteran British financial trader, is

going against the flow and bookmakers' odds and betting that Belgium will prevail over England

this evening.

"I will have 10,000 pounds ($13,080) on Belgium to win," Simon Cawkwell, who won the

nickname with successful bets on the communications firm of late tycoon Robert Maxwell, the

failed British bank Northern Rock and Brexit, just told us.

England's 6-1 win over Panama, its biggest ever World Cup victory, sparked a surge in hopes

for the team, but Cawkwell cautioned against getting carried away.

Cawkwell has made a reputation as one of the City of London (LSE: CIN.L - news) 's more successful

"short-betting" traders - namely those able to predict negative market performances.

Here's food for thought:

No, after you: Why England and Belgium may want to be second [https://reut.rs/2KeR0ae]

Even (Taiwan OTC: 6436.TWO - news) though France isn't involved this evening, here's a photo of May and Macron at the

stadium. Doubtless they'll be enjoying themselves just as much at today's Summit:

(Sudip Kar-Gupta with Julien Ponthus)

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OPENING SNAPSHOT: EUROPEAN STOCKS DIP (0722 GMT)

Yesterday's rebound was short-lived as European stocks open lower, weighed down by a fall

among banks as risk-off becomes the flavour du jour ahead of the EU summit.

A slide in the South African rand to a seven-month low is also dragging on stocks exposed to

the country, with Investec (LSE: INVP.L - news) and Old Mutual (Other OTC: ODMUF - news) among the biggest fallers on the STOXX.

A weak quarterly performance isn't sitting well with H&M investors as shares in the fashion

retailer slide more than 3 percent.

And among risers, shares in Shire (Xetra: S7E.DE - news) are the biggest gainers after a proposal from a group of

Takeda shareholders who are trying to gain support to block the Shire deal failed to get passed

at Takeda's AGM.

Here's your opening snapshot:

(Kit Rees)

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WHAT'S ON THE RADAR FOR THE EUROPEAN OPEN (0646 GMT)

As a tense EU summit kicks off the region’s stock markets are set for a fall after a valiant

attempt at a rebound in the previous session as U.S. President Trump’s tone on trade seemed to

soften.

An extended selloff in Asian stocks after a lower close in Wall Street set the tone for a

weaker session in Europe, with benchmark futures down 0.1 to 0.2 percent as investors await a

divisive summit with leaders locking horns over immigration.

Oil stocks, the best-performing in Europe this year, are likely to support the market after

crude prices hit 3 ½ year highs.

On the corporate front H&M shares are seen falling around 5 percent after the world’s

second-biggest fashion retailer reported its second-quarter profit shrank slightly more than

expected, and flagged higher markdown levels in the third quarter. One trader calls it “the

short that keeps on giving”.

UK pub operator Greene King (Frankfurt: A0F66P - news) said weaker consumer spending and bad weather dented its

full-year profit by 11.2 percent, in line with its expectations, while strong second-half

guidance from oil services firm Wood Group was the latest sign of companies in the sector

reaping the rewards of higher oil prices.

(Helen Reid)

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FUTURES GAP DOWN AS INVESTORS AWAIT TENSE EU SUMMIT (0615 GMT)

Futures have opened lower as trade tensions linger and European investors await a divisive

EU summit which may yield few answers for investors to the pressing questions facing the bloc.

"We do not expect a significant breakthrough on EU and Euro area governance reform at this

week's EU summit," say Goldman Sachs analysts.

"While progress is being made on the reform agenda – with the Franco-German proposals agreed

by Chancellor Merkel and President Macron in the form of the Meseburg accord representing an

important contribution – the political context looks set to further delay and water down what

are already quite modest proposals."

Trade tensions and Brexit negotiations are likely to distract leaders from

consensus-building.

(Helen Reid)

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EARLY MORNING HEADLINE ROUND-UP (0541 GMT)

Company news is still relatively thin on the ground but there's lots to focus on today in

trade and politics.

Although Trump moved to a softer approach than imposing China-specific investment

restrictions, instead using the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., Wall Street closed

lower yesterday after White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox that the CFIUS decision

did not represent a more conciliatory approach to China trade issues.

In Europe of course it's all eyes on the EU Summit which kicks off today. The top issue is

immigration, and here are Five things to expect from the summit:

In other headlines to watch:

Deutsche Bank (IOB: 0H7D.IL - news) 's U.S. brokerage fined $1.4 mln for reporting problems

High fees make up bulk of UK banks' retail account profits - watchdog says

Ticketmaster UK says customer data may have been stolen in hack

Spain's Repsol (Amsterdam: RP6.AS - news) invests $869 million in electricity assets

Vestas, Maersk unit team up to tackle costs of ever bigger wind turbines

Thyssenkrupp (IOB: 0O1C.IL - news) nears JV compromise deal with Tata Steel (BSE: TATASTEEL.BO - news) -sources

Under pressure from populists, EU doubles down on curbing migration

EXCLUSIVE-Bahrain Steel says Anglo declared force majeure on contract after spills

BoE (Shenzhen: 000725.SZ - news) 's Cunliffe keeps cards close on rates outlook - BBC

Trump to use U.S. security review panel to curb China tech investments

(Helen Reid)

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MORNING CALL: EUROPEAN STOCKS SET FOR FRESH FALLS(0519 GMT)

European stocks are called lower this morning as yesterday's rebound fizzles out, with Asian

trading revealing a pervasive pessimism from investors over the mounting threat of

protectionism.

Meanwhile crude prices at 3-1/2 year highs are likely to support oil stocks further after

strong gains in the previous session.

Asian stocks slumped to nine-month lows on growing worries the U.S. administration's

approach to trade is harming global economic growth even as it appeared to be softening its aims

to curb Chinese investments in U.S. technology firms.

Spreadbetters expect the FTSE to open 33 points lower at 7,589, the DAX to open 19 points

lower at 12,329, and Paris' CAC 40 to open 11 points lower at 5,317.

(Helen Reid)

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