LIVE MARKETS-Trade war: no longer on hold?
June 4 - 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
TRADE WAR: NO LONGER ON HOLD? (0555)
"Global trade protectionism concerns are likely to linger this week as the EU raises a
complaint to the WTO and considers the scale of retaliatory measures to last week's US tariffs
on steel and aluminium," write Societe Generale (Swiss: 519928.SW - news) analysts.
There are also signs of strain in NAFTA negotiations and U.S.-China trade relations.
"We do not expect trade policy risks to fade anytime soon," writes Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB - news) . "Following
trade announcements over the last few days, the trade war does not appear to be "on hold" but
simply "on".
Finance leaders of the closest U.S. allies issued a statement on Saturday (Shenzhen: 002291.SZ - news) expressing their
"unanimous concern and disappointment" about steel tariffs to President Trump - making this
weekend's G7 meeting likely to be fractious.
(Helen Reid)
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BANK MERGER MADNESS (0541 GMT)
There's lots of dealmaking news in the financial sector to keep traders and investors busy
this morning.
Unicredit (EUREX: DE000A163206.EX - news) is exploring a merger with Societe Generale, the FT reported yesterday. If this
develops it could mark the first in a series of cross-border deals among Europe's big
banks.
And in the UK, lender CYBG (Frankfurt: 42YA.F - news) is getting nearer to clinching a deal to take over challenger
bank Virgin Money. It raised its offer for Virgin by 7 percent yesterday, having initially made
an all-share takeover proposal in early May valuing it at about 1.6 billion pounds.
Here are a few more headlines likely to drive trading today:
Bayer (IOB: 0P6S.IL - news) launches $7 billion cash call to fund Monsanto (Hamburg: 1132157.HM - news) deal
Roche drugs show limited benefit in lung, breast cancer trials
BHP process to unload U.S. shale operations could take until 2019
AccorHotels looks at taking stake in Air France KLM
INTERVIEW-Airbus chief says automation to revamp jet manufacturing, help meet demand
INTERVIEW-Lufthansa (Xetra: LHAB.DE - news) eyes another record summer, but sticks to profit target
(Helen Reid)
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MORNING CALL: EUROPEAN SHARES TO RISE AS JOBS DATA TRUMPS TRADE WAR WORRIES (0524 GMT)
European shares are set to make further gains at the open, taking their cue from trading in
Asia which saw stock markets climb in relief over U.S. jobs data which showed unemployment at an
18-year low.
This week investors will be looking ahead to the G7 on Friday and Saturday in Quebec, where
discussions between member states will focus on trade relations. It'll also be the first
international event for Italy's new populist government.
Asian shares rose to their highest level in two-and-a-half-weeks on Monday as strong U.S.
jobs data offset worries that tariff wars between the United States and the rest of the world
could drag on global economic growth.
Spreadbetters call the DAX 44 points higher at 12,768, the CAC 40 up 19 points at 5,485, and
the FTSE 100 22 points higher at 7,723.
(Helen Reid)
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(Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Helen Reid, Kit Rees and Julien Ponthus)