LIVE MARKETS-What's on the radar: L'Oreal, Hermes, Umicore, and Earthport bidding war
* Futures falter ahead of European open
* STOXX 600 had worst day in 6 weeks on Thursday
* Trump says he won't meet Xi before trade deadline of March 1
* L'Oreal, Hermes report stronger than expected China demand
Feb 8 - 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
WHAT'S ON THE RADAR: L'OREAL, HERMES, UMICORE (Hamburg: 3771399.HM - news) , AND EARTHPORT BIDDING WAR (0744 GMT)
After European stocks’ worst day in six weeks, the market is set for a faltering start with
futures down 0.1-0.2 percent for the FTSE 100, DAX and Eurostoxx 50 while CAC 40 futures inched
up 0.1 percent.
Earnings will drive the day with strong numbers from L’Oreal, Ceconomy, Hermes, and Aker (Stockholm: AKERO.ST - news)
Solutions, while Umicore gave a weak outlook and SSE (LSE: SSE.L - news) cut its profit outlook.
Cosmetics giant L'Oreal is expected to rise 1-2 percent after it said strong demand for
luxury skin creams helped it beat Q4 sales forecasts - another company reporting better than
feared demand from China after LVMH last week.
Luxury handbag maker Hermes also said sales momentum in its Chinese stores stayed strong,
boosting its shares up 1-2 percent in premarket too.
Strong results from Ceconomy are boosting the shares up 5.9 percent in early Frankfurt
trade.
In other good numbers, Norwegian oil services firm Aker Solutions (Stockholm: AKSOO.ST - news) delivered better than
expected order intake.
On the flipside, Belgian's Umicore, a battery producer which has been a favourite of
investors looking to play the electric vehicle trade, said it expected 2019 growth to be hit by
subdued demand in the car and consumer electronics sectors, and R&D costs.
More negative news for autos from Tata Motors (BSE: TATAMOTORS.BO - news) ’ results, warning that Jaguar Land Rover which
brings in most of its revenue would swing to a loss due to weak sales. That could drag European
autos stocks further down after the sector suffered its worst day since the Brexit aftermath on
Thursday.
In the UK, Visa (Xetra: A0NC7B - news) sweetened its offer to $320 million in an ongoing bidding war for UK payment
company Earthport (Frankfurt: EAPA.F - news) , topping rival Mastercard’s bid.
Healthcare (Shanghai: 603313.SS - news) facilities provider Caretech could get a boost after the UK regulator approved
its acquisition of Cambian.
Energy utility SSE was expected to fall 2-3 percent after it cut its profit outlook, hurt by
the suspension of payments from a back-up power scheme to energy suppliers.
Amid the fallout from Renault’s Ghosn scandal, France's finance ministry denied on Thursday
a Nikkei report that the French government had informed Tokyo it was open to considering
reducing Renault (LSE: 0NQF.L - news) 's stake in Nissan Motor.
And Europe’s chipmaker stocks might be hit by weaker results from U.S. semiconductor maker
Qorvo (Frankfurt: 2QO.F - news) , traders say.
(Helen Reid)
*****
FUTURES POINT TO TEPID START TO TRADING (0714 GMT)
It's a tepid open for futures with the trade-sensitive DAX seeing the biggest falls, down
0.2 percent, while CAC 40 futures are up 0.2 percent.
Things could, of course, deteriorate during the day as they did yesterday.
But meanwhile individual stocks are likely to drive the session. A rundown of European
earnings is in the previous blog.
From the UK, we've got bellwether mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society (LSE: NBS.L - news) reporting
profits fell 21 percent after ramping up investment in digital banking, and energy utility SSE (Amsterdam: UW8.AS - news)
cutting its full-year profit forecast.
Nationwide profits fall 21 pct on further digital spend
SSE cuts annual profit outlook
(Helen Reid)
*****
STRONG RESULTS FROM L'OREAL, CECONOMY, WHILE UMICORE WARNS OF AUTO SLOWDOWN (0657 GMT)
While the lack of positive progress towards a U.S.-China trade deal is likely to keep
European markets tepid today, earnings on the whole look slightly healthier than yesterday.
Cosmetics giant L'Oreal said strong demand for luxury skin creams helped it beat Q4 sales
forecasts - another company reporting better than feared demand from China after LVMH last week.
Results from Ceconomy, Europe's biggest consumer electronics retailer, should deliver some
relief to the retail sector: the company's sales beat expectations thanks to Black Friday
discounts, and it maintained its profit guidance.
In other strong results, Norwegian oil services firm Aker Solutions delivered better than
expected order intake.
On the flipside, Belgian's Umicore, a battery producer which has been a favourite of
investors looking to play the electric vehicle trade, said it expected 2019 growth to be hit by
subdued demand in the car and consumer electronics sectors, and R&D costs.
Swedish builder Skanska (LSE: 0HBT.L - news) reported a Q4 profit which lagged expectations.
In M&A news, Italian insurer Unipol (Dusseldorf: 18319160.DU - news) agreed to sell its banking unit to BPER Banca for 220
million euros.
Here are the headlines so far:
Chinese demand boosts L'Oreal cosmetics sales
Belgium's Umicore expects subdued auto demand, startup costs to weigh on 2019 earnings
Aker Solutions eyes oil service recovery as order intake beats forecast
Ceconomy maintains profit guidance after better first quarter
Skanska Q4 operating profit, 2018 dividend lag expectations
Fiat Chrysler paid $77 mln in U.S. fuel economy penalties in 2018
Italy's Unipol to sell banking unit to BPER Banca for 220 mln euros
Air France KLM January passenger numbers rise 1.5 pct on year
France probes Danske Bank (LSE: 0NVC.L - news) over money laundering allegations
Swiss raise 380 mln Sfr from 5G mobile spectrum auction
(Helen Reid)
*****
EUROPEAN STOCKS TO FALTER AFTER WORST DAY IN SIX WEEKS (0629 GMT)
Yesterday's selloff is expected to extend into the end of the trading week with
spreadbetters pointing to slight falls for the DAX and CAC.
The sharp drop yesterday in the STOXX - its worst day in six weeks - came after European
shares reached 12-week highs, and was likely driven by some profit-taking as well as the angst
triggered by U.S. President Trump saying he was not likely to meet China's Xi before a March 1
tariff deadline, dousing markets' hopes of an imminent trade deal.
Downgrades to euro area and UK growth certainly didn't help either.
Asian stocks lost ground on Friday as investors worried about a broadening global economic
slowdown, with sentiment not helped by the absence of any positive signs for a resolution in the
U.S.-China trade row.
Financial spreadbetters at IG (Frankfurt: A0EARV - news) expect London's FTSE to open 6 points higher at 7,100,
Frankfurt's DAX to open 9 points lower at 11,013 and Paris' CAC to open 2 points lower at 4,984.
(Helen Reid)
*****
(Reporting by Helen Reid, Danilo Masoni, Julien Ponthus, and Josephine Mason)