* European shares flat
* FTSE lifted by weaker pound
* Wall St closed for labor dayLONDON, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equitymarkets brought to you by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien Ponthus. Reachhim on Messenger to share your thoughts on market moves:julien.ponthus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
CLOSING SNAPSHOT: FLAT (1602 GMT)The first trading day of September was rather uneventful with the mood dampened by worriesabout U.S. trade policy and concern over emerging markets, while activity remained subdued bythe closure of Wall Street for labour day.
The sterling's slide however gave a boost to the FTSE.Here's your closing snapshot:
(Danilo Masoni)
****
MAKING THE CASE FOR EUROPEAN BANK CONSOLIDATION (1515 GMT)
European banks are the worst performing sector year-to-date for a number of reasons from lowinterest rates to harsh regulation, but while pressure on profitability is keeping investorsaway, that eventually could force lenders into seeking value through M&A.In 2018 little has happened but analysts at UBS remain upbeat and say the deal maths isreason enough to start a conversation and highlight how regulators are increasingly supportive.
"We expect a significant increase in bank acquisition activity," analysts at the Swiss banksay in a note.Under their consolidation scenario, European banks' post-deal price would fall to 7.1 times2019 earnings - something they say "will prove too attractive to pass up".In this UBS chart you can see where the upside is greatest.
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
LOOK TO "ADD INTO" ANY TARIFF-RELATED WOBBLE (1433 GMT)Even though stocks are a bit mellow today on the back of ongoing worries over global trade,equity strategists at J.P. Morgan point out that global equities are still outperforming bonds.
"Near term, we could see knee-jerk risk-off move on the potential headline of $200bn tariffimplementation, but we believe that one should add into this, as an eventual compromise on traderemains the most likely outcome, and key fundamentals are tracking," J.P. Morgan's equitystrategists write in a note.They are not as positive on Euro zone stocks though, which they have at 'neutral', sayingthat they are unlikely to outperform global equities due to the issue of Italy and thelikelihood of slow ECB tightening.
(Kit Rees)
*****
BLOODY AUGUST SENDS S&P EUROPE DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO THE RED (1248 GMT)
While the STOXX 600 is already into the red for 2018 (-1.8 pct), another Europeanindex is in touching distance of negative territory.
"Accompanied by a worsening environment for international trade and underwhelming economicdata releases, European equities stumbled in August", S&P Dow Jones Indices wrote in its MonthlyRegional Dashboards.
"The S&P Europe 350 fell 2.3% this month, nearly wiping out its year-to-date returns", itadded noting that in Italy, "the tragic events in Genoa heightened the political tension overthe upcoming budget".
Other important points to note, the good performance of Tech and for strategies, Quality andDividend Aristocrats.
As you can see below, the S&P Europe 350 is now only up around 0.9 percent from January toAugust.Here's also a link to a Reuters poll showing investors and brokers expect European shares tostage a recovery in what remains of 2018 but fail to push past their January highs: (Julien Ponthus)
*****
MORNING SNAPSHOT: FTSE STANDS OUT (0959 GMT)
European indexes are lacking a clear direction this morning with the mood soured by worriesabout U.S. trade policy and concern over emerging markets.
"Investors still have mixed outlooks regarding the global trade situation as well as theturmoil in emerging markets caused by the recent Turkish Lira crisis and this means fewertraders are going long on stocks right now," says Pierre Veyret, technical analystat ActivTrades.
The FTSE, however, is clearly on the up, driven 0.8 percent higher by a weaker pound andstronger commodity stocks.Here's your snapshot:
(Danilo Masoni)
*****
WHAT WE'RE WATCHING AT THE OPEN (0650 GMT)
Apart from the FTSE where Brexit worries are providing tailwind with a weak pound, mostmajor European bourses are expected to open in the red, following the downward trend set in Asiadue to trade war worries and general angst towards emerging markets.
Some macro indicators could help set the tone, such as European PMI manufacturing, as thereare very little corporate announcements scheduled this morning.
There are however quite a lot of stocks to keep an eye on such as Italian banks, which willbe under the spotlight after the Fitch decision to cut the outlook for Italy to negative onFriday.A number of French shares are also in the news such as Casino, whose shares had sank as muchas 15 percent on Friday amid fresh concerns over its debt burden. The French retailer, which istargeted by U.S. short seller Muddy Waters, said it had amended its 2018 half year results todisclose the cash position of one of its key finance units.French drugmaker Sanofi also secured an approval in Europe for a rare blood-clottingdisorder treatment using nanobodies.(Julien Ponthus)
*****
EUROPEAN FUTURES OPEN: FTSE UP, THE REST GOES DOWN (0614 GMT)
While indications from spreadbetters didn't give a clear-cut feel of what was to come, theopen for European futures gives a much clearer picture.Except for the FTSE, the main European bourses are seen following the downward trend set inAsia:
(Julien Ponthus)
*****
MORNING CALL: THE CALM BEFORE INCOMING MACRO WAVES? (0534 GMT)
There doesn't seem to be any clear directional trend yet on the European market despite
Asian stocks dropping for the third consecutive session, hit by (surprise, surprise) furtherescalation of the U.S-China trade war.
Financial spreadbetters expect London's FTSE to open 1 point higher, Frankfurt's DAX to rise15 points and Paris' CAC to add 2 points.
Nothing much in terms of corporate earnings but this could prove to be an interesting day interms of economic indicators as you can see below:
(Julien Ponthus)
*****
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^macro futures snapshot S&P350 Global asset classes 2018 Bank mergers close ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.