Land Securities Share News (LAND)

March 26 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought toyou by Reuters stocks reporters and anchored today by Julien Ponthus. Reach him on Messenger toshare your thoughts on market moves: julien.ponthus.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net RECORD WEEK FOR BLOCK TRADING (1033 BST) The impact of MiFID II is certainly being felt: just two weeks after the implementation ofdark pool caps on a wide swathe of European stocks, the volume of "large-in-scale" (LIS) blocktrades (exempt from the caps) has shot up, Fidessa data shows. Last week was the busiest ever for LIS trading on block venues, with a record number oftrades on Turquoise, Cboe LIS, Cboe Dark and Euronext Block platforms. A record value was traded on Liquidnet, Turquoise, Cboe LIS and Euronext Block. Overall the proportion of block trades to the whole dark trading volume rose to 44 percentlast week, from 42 percent the week before. The stock with the most block trades was Land Securities, with a total of 156. British American Tobacco meanwhile traded 367 million euros in blocks - an all-timerecord block value traded in a single stock in a week. (Helen Reid) ***** FINANCIALS: EARNINGS BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT (0955 BST) While some analysts are warning to turn down exposure to cyclical parts of the market, Citiare taking a closer look at the financial sector. They say 70% or more of financials' returnsare driven by macro factors, but the importance of non-macro factors such as earnings anddividend delivery is rising, just as the macro outlook starts to look a little more uncertain. The stellar gains in financials over 2017 have left relatively few bargains, though. "While valuations are unstretched, few stocks are outright cheap and future performanceseems more geared to earnings delivery than re-rating," Citi strategists write. While highlighting near-term earnings risks, especially for European banks, as investorswait for rate rises to boost revenues, they say patches of weak economic momentum can bebalanced by robust EPS growth and attractive dividend yields. They reckon Swiss and UK domestic banks are good bets, as well as U.S. banks and lifeinsurers. Among Citi's top stock picks are Europe's Credit Suisse, Intesa Sanpaolo,Societe Generale and Standard Chartered while the Europeans on the leastpreferred list are all Swedish: Swedbank, SEB, and SHB. (Helen Reid) ***** EUROPEAN STOCKS STAGE A RECOVERY (0814 BST) Defensives are in the lead today as European markets stage a rebound, with all sectorsmaking gains. Healthcare and utilities are the best-performing, as Roche's lung cancer trial success helps boost it up 1 percent. It's not only defensives enjoying gains though, with financials also rising as sentiment ontrade improves. Fresnillo is enjoying the top position on the STOXX, up 3.6 percent after anupgrade to "buy" from Goldman Sachs, who also added the miner to their "conviction list". Smurfit Kappa meanwhile is slipping 4 percent after refusing a sweetened takeoveroffer from International Paper. WHAT'S ON THE RADAR FOR THE OPEN? (0745 BST) Trade war fears have weighed yet again on Asian shares this morning but there are scarcesigns of a general sell-off in Europe this morning. Futures indicate the main indexes are toopen slightly down (-0.2 percent for the IBEX) or flat (for the CAC 40). U.S. futures are also trading in positive territory, suggesting that the latest news on thetrade front (U.S. exempts South Korea from steel tariffs, hopes of a negotiated US/China deal)is not a cause for alarm. Catalonia is back on the front page and could dampen sentiment in Spain with Puigdemont’sdetention in Germany. In France, Macron’s reform agenda received a boost with a lower thanexpected deficit for 2017 (first time it is below 3 pct in 10 years). Rather limited news in the corporate arena this morning but the saga for the control ofTelecom Italia is still at the centre of attention, as is the GKN situation with auto componentsmaker Dana agreeing to increase its offer for GKN's Driveline business. Smurfit Kappa hasspurned a revised proposal from International Paper, while Roche could benefit from results ofone its drugs showing a boost in lung cancer patients' survival. A round-up of company news headlines since Friday:BRIEF-Smurfit Kappa Rejects Revised Proposal From International PaperDana ups cash offer in hotly contested fight for Britain's GKNBRIEF-Colas And Bouygues Construction Announce Acquisition Of Alpiq EngineeringRoche's Tecentriq cocktail notches another lung cancer successJD Sports to buy The Finish Line of the U.S. for $558 millionGivaudan buys 522 mln euro Naturex stake and launches takeover offerRolls-Royce says Trent 7000 engines not affected by turbine blade issuesVivendi ups stakes in Telecom Italia fight with ElliottAtlantia to buy Cellnex stake, granted option to sell it on to Edizione(Julien Ponthus, Tom Pfeiffer) **** BECOMING MORE SUSPICIOUS OF CYCLICALS (0728 BST) UniCredit analysts have downgraded the STOXX 600 Basic Resources and Chemicals toneutral, still rotating away from cyclical stocks and towards more defensive areas of themarket. "The current slowdown in economic growth momentum suggested by leading indicators such asthe PMI indices is leading to materials becoming less attractive compared to defensives," theywrite. Tariffs are, of course, part of the reason as well, with materials stocks likely to be hitby trade tensions. "These developments are negatively influencing the risk premia that investors are takinginto account," adds UniCredit. (Helen Reid) ***** EUROPEAN FUTURES SLIGHTLY DOWN, U.S. E-MINI RISE (0717 GMT) European futures have opened only slightly in negative territory despite persistent concernsover trade tensions between the Trump administration and China. Futures for the continent's mainindexes are trading between -0.2 percent and +0.1 percent. As a sign that investors are not in a full-blown "risk-off" mood, E-Mini futures for the S&P500 are up 0.7 percent. (Julien Ponthus) ***** MORNING CALL: EUROPE SHARES EXPECTED LOWER AS TRADE FEARS HIT ASIA (0631 GMT) European shares are expected to open lower this morning as fears of a full-blown trade warbetween the United States and China battered Asian shares. Financial spreadbetters expect London's FTSE to open 22 points lower at 6900, Frankfurt'sDAX to open 21 points lower at 11865 and Paris' CAC to open 12 points lower at 5083. (Julien Ponthus) *****