LIVE MARKETS-Unloved sectors keep Spain's IBEX afloat

* Investors price in more Fed tightening after minutes

* European stocks fall, shrug off ECB minutes

* Earnings season in full swing in Europe

Feb 22 (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

UNLOVED SECTORS KEEP SPAIN'S IBEX AFLOAT (1532 GMT)

Who would have thought? Spain's IBEX is currently the only major regional index

resisting today's slump across Europe and it owes all to an unlikely alliance of two recently

underperforming sectors: telecoms and utilities.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Telefonica (LSE: 826858.L - news) are up 3.5 percent after the telecoms operator said it

expected profitability to increase and Gas Natural (Frankfurt: 38G.F - news) is up 1 percent after Repsol (Amsterdam: RP6.AS - news)

said it would sell 20 percent of the company to CVC (Taiwan OTC: 4744.TWO - news) at a premium to the market price.

As you can see in this three-month chart, telecoms and utilities have been clear

underperformers with investors ditching these sectors, also known as bond proxies, to move into

cyclicals.

Bonus: an interesting read for an unloved sector: Investments pay off for European telecom's

old guard

(Julien Ponthus)

*****

WHAT "CORRECTION"? BIG TECH SETS NEW RECORDS (1450 GMT)

It feels like only a few days since a sharp global sell-off wiped out a chunk of 2018's

gains in global equities. But big tech has hardly blinked.

While the S&P 500 is still more than 5 percent below the record it hit on Jan. 26,

NYSE FANG futures - a benchmark for global tech giants provided by exchange operator ICE

- are breaking new records.

It seems Q4 results are helping to dispel any doubts over their ability to maintain

paradigm-shifting rates of growth.

NYSE FANG comprises Facebook (NasdaqGS: FB - news) , Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) , Amazon, Netflix (Xetra: 552484 - news) ,

Google, Alibaba (Berlin: AHLA.BE - news) , Baidu (Xetra: A0F5DE - news) , NVIDIA (Swiss: NVDA.SW - news) , Tesla and Twitter (Swiss: TWTR-USD.SW - news)

.

(Danilo Masoni)

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EUROPEAN STOCKS SHRUG OFF ECB MINUTES (1303 GMT)

The euro might have spiked briefly immediately after the release of the ECB minutes, but

there was nothing as exciting among European stocks - the STOXX 600 remains where it was, down

0.6 percent.

The minutes showed that ECB policymakers felt it was too early to change their communication

stance to signal a normalisation of policy.

Here's Capital Economics' takeaway from the minutes:

"The account of the ECB’s January meeting suggests that the Bank will drop the easing bias

from its policy statement as soon as the next meeting on 8th March, but gives few signals as to

when asset purchases will end."

Also of note in the minutes were comments around the euro's appreciation and the drivers

behind that:

"Although the past appreciation of the euro had so far had no significant negative impact on

euro area external demand, volatility in foreign exchange markets represented a further risk

that needed monitoring."

(Kit Rees)

*****

BEFORE ECB MINUTES, STOXX DRIFTS SLIGHTLY LOWER (1151)

European shares are retreating slightly with the STOXX 600 down 0.7 percent at

around lunchtime. Here's how the main regional indexes look just ahead of the release of the ECB

minutes which are unlikely to grab the same interest of those the Fed released yesterday.

(Danilo Masoni)

*****

LOOKING FOR SIGNS OF HOPE IN THE BANKING SECTOR (0923 GMT)

Though the broader European banking index may be down around 0.7 percent, results

from Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) and Belgium-based KBC Groep are helping stem losses.

It seems that investors have been looking for capital returns from the banks - HBSC's

shares dropped after there was no mention of a share buyback earlier this week, whereas

Lloyds gained yesterday after announcing a buyback of up to 1 billion pounds.

And today analysts are pointing to Barclays promising to restore its full dividend.

"Full-year dividend back to 6.5p next year and talk of buybacks should have investors

purring with delight even though a series of one-off charges meant Barclays slid to a loss in

2017," Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, said in a note.

Interestingly while analysts at Investec (LSE: INVP.L - news) described Barclays' results as "fairly awful", they

also think that the outlook has improved thanks to the aforementioned dividend payment

intentions and a better-than-expected performance in Barclays' investment banking division.

Moreover, higher interest rates in the U.S. should also benefit the sector more broadly.

While Barclays' shares lost more than 9 percent last year, so far they have gained around

4.7 percent in 2018.

(Kit Rees)

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OPENING SNAPSHOT: EUROPEAN SHARES PULL BACK (0820 GMT)

Europe has opened, and fallen. There seem to be a number of drivers: yields on 10-year U.S.

treasuries are fast approaching 3 percent (a level now crossed by the 30-year) after the Fed's

latest policy minutes, which in turn is hitting the equity market.

Not surprising then, that the biggest sectoral losers early on are the "bond proxies" -

consumer staples and telecoms.

Throw into the mix a number of not-so-well-received results from the likes of

Moneysupermarket.com (-19 pct), Ingenico (Swiss: ING.SW - news) (-12 pct) and Playtech (-8

pct) as well as several FTSE big-hitters going ex-div and you can see why the mood is pretty

downcast.

Here's your opening snapshot:

(Kit Rees)

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EUROPEAN HEADLINES: MORNING ROUND-UP (0749 GMT)

Earnings season is in full swing and the flurry of publications today is offering precious

indications as to whether Q4 was indeed a strong vintage. Clues are expected on the health of

sectors which have suffered recently, such as telecoms, utilities or consumer staples but also

areas where optimism has risen yesterday, such as banks, thanks to Lloyds, and miners with

Glencore (Frankfurt: 8GC.F - news) .

Barclays grows annual profit by 10 percent, restores dividend

ProSiebenSat.1 sells stake in digital business to General Atlantic

Henkel (LSE: 0IZ8.L - news) gives cautious outlook after beauty decline

Deutsche Telekom (IOB: 0MPH.IL - news) hikes dividend despite record investment

Nestle (Swiss: NESN.VX - news) in talks to end supermarket row as pricing pressures build

Spain's Telefonica reports 23 pct rise in core profit in Q4

Insurer AXA's 2017 profit rises ahead of planned IPO of U.S. business

Novo Nordisk (LSE: 0QIU.L - news) gets nod from U.S. drug purchaser for new diabetes hope

Utility Veolia 2017 core earnings up 2 pct, says 2018 started strongly

BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) posts 8 percent rise in annual earnings

Serco meets forecasts and reiterates outlook despite "bumpy road"

RSA posts above-forecast 663 mln stg op profit in 2017

Anglo reports 45 percent leap in earnings, cuts debt

British American sales, profit helped by Reynolds deal

KBC net profit ahead of consensus on Czech gains

French conglomerate Bouygues (LSE: 0HAN.L - news) ' 2017 profits beat expectations

Arkema (Paris: FR0010313833 - news) beats 2017 profit target on strong units growth

UCB full-year core profit beats expectations, cautious about 2018

Safran (LSE: 0IU8.L - news) sees quick ramp-up of Mexico composite fan blade plant

Italy competition watchdog extends broadband probe into Telecom Italia (Amsterdam: TI6.AS - news)

Pipe maker Vallourec (LSE: 0NR2.L - news) cautious after beating 2017 profit forecasts

Britain's Centrica (Frankfurt: A0DK6K - news) posts 17.4 pct fall in FY profit

BRIEF-ISS FY 2017 Net (LSE: 0LN0.L - news) results at DKK 2.42 Bln

EUROPE RESEARCH ROUNDUP-Aurubis (IOB: 0K7F.IL - news) , Dunelm Group (LSE: DNLM.L - news) , Fortum Oyj (LSE: 0HAH.L - news)

(Julien Ponthus, Tom Pfeiffer)

*****

EYES ON THE DATA (0740 GMT)

Nerves have cooled a little since the sell-off earlier this month, but investors will be

watching the flurry of economic data today for any sign that this is as good as it gets in terms

of economic momentum in Europe.

Yesterday's PMIs showed that, while business growth remains robust, it has slipped slightly

from January's peak.

"The data is in line with our expectations of European growth peaking in Q1, but the

still-elevated survey levels continue to support our above-consensus 2018 growth forecast and

our preference for European stocks on a three- to six-month horizon," analysts at Credit

Suisse's Wealth Management division said in a note.

From the chart below, you can see how the euro zone's Euro Stoxx Index has tracked

a rise in PMI readings, suggesting that an economic expansion has been filtering through into

optimism around the region's equities.

(Kit Rees)

*****

DOWN IT IS (0735 GMT)

Futures are confirming earlier financial spreadbetters indications: European bourses are set

to slump at the open and follow the downward trend from Wall Street and Asia. With (Other OTC: WWTH - news) so many

companies reporting results today, however, the old continent may find a trend of its own.

(Julien Ponthus)

*****

EARNINGS AND INDICATORS GALORE (0639 GMT)

For those who may be experiencing U.S. rates and inflation fears fatigue, there will be

plenty of indicators and corporate news to animate the session in Europe today.

We're expecting, among other business climate for Germany, France and Belgium, CPI data from

France and Italy and industrial orders from Switzerland and Italy.

In terms of earnings, the season is in full swing as you can see below in this

non-exhaustive but still very long list below:

Aeroports de Paris SA FY 2017 Earnings Release

Anglo American PLC Earnings Release

Arkema SA FY 2017 Earnings Release

AXA SA FY 2017 Earnings Release

BAE Sys FY 2017 Earnings Release

Barclays PLC FY 2017 Earnings Release

Bouygues SA FY 2017 Earnings Release

British American Tobacco PLC FY 2017 Earnings Release

Centrica PLC Preliminary 2017 Earnings Release

CNP Assurances SA FY 2017 Earnings Release

Saint Gobain SA FY 2017 Earnings Release

Constellium NV Q4 2017 Earnings Call

Deutsche Telekom AG Q4 2017 Earnings Release

DIA FY 2017 Earnings Release

Fnac Darty SA FY 2017 Earnings Call

Gecina SA FY 2017 Earnings Call

Henkel AG & Co KgaA FY 2017 Earnings Release

Ingenico Group SA FY 2017 Earnings Call

KBC Groep NV Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Nyrstar NV FY 2017 Earnings Release

Prosiebensat 1 Media SE FY 2017 Earnings Release

Scor SE FY 2017 Earnings Release

Serco Group PLC FY 2017 Earnings Call

TBC Bank Group PLC HY 2018 Earnings Call

Technip Earnings Call

Telefonica FY 2017 Earnings Release

UCB Q4 2017 Earnings Release

Valeo SA FY 2017 Earnings Call

Veolia Environnement SA FY 2017 Earnings Release

(Julien Ponthus)

****

MORNING CALL: EUROPEAN BOURSES SET TO RETREAT (0615 GMT)

Good morning and welcome to Live Markets.

European bourses seem set to follow Wall Street and their Asian peers lower this morning as

speculation of faster hikes in U.S interest rates soured risk appetite globally.

Spreadbetters expect Germany's DAX to open 134 points lower, France's CAC 50 points lower

and Britain's FTSE 100 82 points lower.

(Julien Ponthus)

****

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