LIVE MARKETS-UK retail not the prettiest of places right now

* European stocks retreat

* Wall St futures rise slightly

LONDON, April 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 Kit Rees. Reach her on

Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves: kit.rees.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net

UK RETAIL NOT THE PRETTIEST OF PLACES RIGHT NOW (1001 GMT)

In another sign of the UK high street's struggles, property firm Hammerson (Frankfurt: 876140 - news) has

pulled out of a bid for smaller peer Intu Properties (LSE: INTU.L - news) , while last week Klepierre (EUREX: CL6.EX - news)

abandoned its approach for Hammerson.

Hammerson's shares are up 2.4 percent while Intu (Swiss: OXIGTU.SW - news) is down 3.5 percent. Analysts at Liberum

think that Hammerson made the right decision.

"Hammerson, on a standalone basis, should be in a stronger position to allocate capital to

its faster growing markets, such as premium outlets," Liberum analysts say in a note.

"Through limiting the scale of its UK exposure it should also reduce the probability its

prime shopping centres will see some eventual value erosion as a result of structural headwind,"

Liberum adds.

So it's not looking like a great vote of confidence for the UK at the moment, at a time when

investor sentiment is fragile due to Brexit uncertainty while bricks-and-mortar retailers

struggle with the popularity of online shopping.

But there are some signs of hope, according to Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves

Lansdown, who points to inflation cooling (see the latest figures released this morning) and

some easing on margins thanks to the exchange rate.

"Some of the headwinds are easing for the retail sector and the industries that depend on

it, but there is still a lot of bad news out there as the fallout continues," Khalaf says.

(Kit Rees)

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STRONG PROFITS BUT MEASLY PAYOUTS FROM EURO ZONE COMPANIES (0935 GMT)

One of the reasons Euro zone stocks have been underperforming the U.S. could be relatively

smaller payouts to shareholders.

Corporates in the euro zone have seen rising profitability, but the way that extra cash is

used has been very different in the region compared with the U.S., indicating a lingering

caution in the region. Profits distributed through dividends or buybacks are at their lowest

share of GDP since the launch of the euro, according to Credit Suisse (IOB: 0QP5.IL - news) metrics.

"Shareholders of euro area firms are not receiving cashflows proportionate to those their

firms are generating," note CS strategists at Credit Suisse. "Instead strong profits are being

used to invest, build cash balances and pay down debt."

Corporate leverage is plunging despite a strengthening in investment. This phenomenon, while

increasing companies' resilience, makes them potentially more attractive for holders of euro

area corporate credit than for shareholders who yearn for companies to deliver more cash to

them.

It's one aspect of this European earnings season that will be very closely watched by

investors hoping to see bigger payouts.

(Helen Reid)

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EUROPEAN BOURSES EDGE UP AS Q1 EARNINGS COME IN (0720 GMT)

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) are slightly up across the continent and sectors as a large batch of first-quarter

corporate results is keeping investors on a risk-on mode.

(Julien Ponthus)

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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING AHEAD OF THE EUROPEAN OPEN (0643 GMT)

European stocks futures are up very slightly, pointing to another positive session for

European equities as the focus turns from trade and geopolitics to the first quarter earnings

season.

A number of big, consumer-facing stocks have given updates today, notably Danone (LSE: 0KFX.L - news) which

traders are marking 2-3 percent higher after the food group beat Q1 sales forecasts on the back

of strong demand for baby formula products in China. Likewise Remy Cointreau reported higher

sales thanks to Chinese demand for premium cognac.

As tech has been especially in focus this year, investors might be heartened by numbers from

semiconductor equipment maker ASML (Milan: ASML.MI - news) , which has beaten expectations.

More broadly, this earnings season in Europe isn’t expected to be especially stellar with

earnings seen increasing 1.9 percent from the first quarter of 2017, which would be an increase

of just 0.8 percent stripping out the energy sector, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Kit Rees)

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MORNING HEADLINE ROUNDUP: Q1 EARNINGS SEASON IN FULL SWING (0635 GMT)

AS you can see, the Q1 earnings season is now in full swing and dominating today's front

page:

Chinese baby food demand helps Danone Q1 sales beat forecasts

ASML posts 540 mln euros Q1 profit, announces first sales of new product

Vopak sees potential to "significantly" improve 2019 earnings

Remy Cointreau (Swiss: RCO.SW - news) keeps profit goal as China demand lifts Q4 sales

Channel tunnel group Getlink sees higher long-term profit as Brexit talks progress

Trump to boost exports of lethal drones to more U.S. allies-sources

Total (LSE: 524773.L - news) buys French electricity retailer Direct Energie (Stuttgart: 1485895.SG - news)

EXCLUSIVE-Imerys (LSE: 0NPX.L - news) selling 1 bln euro tiles business, buyout funds bidding -sources

Nissan, Ford, FCA lead European car sales decline

Rio Tinto (Hanover: CRA1.HA - news) flags changes to 2018 aluminium output after U.S. sanctions

Russia's Polymetal says Q1 revenue up 19 pct y/y

De La Rue (Other OTC: DELRF - news) will not appeal loss of UK 'Brexit' passport contract

(Julien Ponthus)

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EUROPEAN STOCKS FUTURES STEADY (0619 GMT)

After opening moderately higher, European stocks futures are now trading roughly flat to

very slightly higher as investors digest a flurry of company updates.

Here's your futures snapshot:

(Kit Rees)

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EUROPEAN EARNINGS: CONSUMER STOCKS IN FOCUS (0544 GMT)

As the Q1 earnings season gets underway, it looks like today is going to be a big day for

large, consumer-facing stocks with Danone and Heineken (LSE: 0O26.L - news) set to report, while semiconductor

equipment maker ASML --whose shares are up 17 percent year to date-- is also due to give an

update. The full list of European companies set to give updates today is below:

VOPA.AS Q1 2018 Koninklijke Vopak NV Earnings Release

DANO.PA Q1 2018 Danone SA Corporate Sales Release

BAR.BR Q1 2018 Barco NV Corporate Sales Release

EDDG_p.F Q4 2017 edding AG Earnings Release

TEMN.S Q1 2018 Temenos Group AG Earnings Release

MONY.L Q1 2018 Moneysupermarket.Com Group PLC Trading Statement Release

JUP.L Q1 2018 Jupiter Fund Management PLC Trading Statement Release

GETP.PA Q1 2018 Getlink Corporate Sales Release

BNZL.L Q1 2018 Bunzl (LSE: BNZL.L - news) plc Trading Statement Release

SGRO.L Q1 2018 SEGRO PLC Trading Statement Release

ASML.AS Q1 2018 ASML Holding NV Earnings Release

ELISA (LSE: 0I8Y.L - news) .HE Q1 2018 Elisa Oyj Earnings Release

RCOP.PA Q4 2018 Remy Cointreau SA Corporate Sales Release

HEMF.ST Q1 2018 Hemfosa Fastigheter AB Earnings Release

REL.L Q1 2018 Relx PLC Trading Statement Release

HEIN.AS Q1 2018 Heineken NV Trading Statement Release

AVANZ.ST Q1 2018 Avanza Bank Holding AB Earnings Release

RELN.AS Q1 2018 Relx PLC Trading Statement Release

ACCP.PA Q1 2018 Accor SA Corporate Sales Release

BLT.L Q3 2018 BHP Billiton PLC Operational Review

SOIT.PA Q4 2018 Soitec SA Corporate Sales Release

BTPP.PA Q1 2018 Affine RE SA Corporate Sales Release

GFCP.PA Q1 2018 Gecina SA Corporate Sales Release

(Kit Rees)

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MORNING CALL: EUROPEAN SHARES SEEN OPENING HIGHER (0523 GMT)

Good morning. European shares are seen rising at the open on Wednesday, according to

financial spreadbetters, building on yesterday's bounce as worries over trade and geopolitics

take a backseat and earnings come into focus.

Spreadbetters expected Britain's FTSE 100 to open 18 points higher, Germany's DAX to rise 21

points and France's CAC to gain 12 points.

It was a similar story overnight for Asian equities, which were broadly higher, though

Chinese indexes struggled even after China's central bank unexpectedly said on Tuesday it will

reduce the cash banks hold as reserves, boosting liquidity in the banking system.

(Kit Rees)

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