LIVE MARKETS-Three hot "special sits"

* Dow ends above 26,000

* Asian stocks hit record highs

* Dollar pulls back from three-year lows

Jan 18 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real time coverage of European equity markets

brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien Ponthus. Reach him on

Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: julien.ponthus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

THREE HOT "SPECIAL SITS" (0754 GMT)

Here's the latest on 3 hot European "special sits":

*Activist investor Sachem Head is asking Whitbread (Frankfurt: WHF4.F - news) to consider splitting the Costa Coffee

chain away from its hotels and restaurant businesses

* Steinhoff: Jayendra Naidoo resigns as a member of the supervisory board.

* The largest shareholder in Belgian biotech group Ablynx (LSE: 0HNK.L - news) said the 2.6 billion euro offer

made by Denmark's Novo Nordisk (LSE: 0QIU.L - news) is too low but that it is willing to consider a higher offer.

(Julien Ponthus)

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BULLISH SECTOR, BULLISH HEADLINES (0720 GMT)

With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) an 8.8 percent rise since the beginning of the year, European car makers are the best -

by far - performing sector, something you can get a sense of when reading this morning's

headlines.

In a nutshell, while Renault (LSE: 0NQF.L - news) and Volkswagen (IOB: 0P6N.IL - news) are fighting over who can claim the crown of the

world's leading automobile group, Peugeot (Other OTC: PUGOF - news) is planning to use the know-how of former

Opel engineers acquired from General Motors (NYSE: GM - news) to re-enter the U.S. market.

At the opposite end, retail, which is up a slim 0.75 percent in comparison with 2.3 percent

for the STOXX 600, is enjoying less glamourous headlines, with France's Carrefour (LSE: 0NPH.L - news) cutting its

profit forecast for the second time in six months before presenting a new strategic plan

. That comes a day after another French supermarket group, Casino, disappointed

analysts with its 2017 profit growth guidance in its core French business.

(Julien Ponthus)

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FUTURES POINT TO POSITIVE OPEN FOR EUROPEAN SHARES (0706 GMT)

Futures seem to confirm that European shares are set to join their U.S. and Asian peers' in

a global rally.

(Julien Ponthus)

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MORNING CALL: EUROPEAN SHARES SET TO JOIN GLOBAL RALLY (0617 GMT)

Good morning and welcome to Live Markets. It seems European shares are set to join the

global rally, which has lifted the Dow above 26,000 points and boosted Asian shares to new

highs.

Financial spreadbetters expect Frankfurt's DAX to open 76 points higher, Paris' CAC up 26

points and London's FTSE 8 points higher.

(Julien Ponthus)

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