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* STOXX 600 last up 0.1%, erasing opening losses
* Investors await signing of U.S./China trade deal
* UK gambling shares hit by credit card restriction
Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of European equity markets brought to you by Reuters
stocks reporters and anchored today by Thyagaraju Adinarayan. Reach him on Messenger to share
your thoughts on market moves: rm://thyagaraju.adinarayan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
WOOHOO! BOOHOO IS WORTH MORE THAN MARKS & SPENCER! (0947 GMT)
Let that sink in for a while: Boohoo, the UK cloth online retailer founded less than two
decades ago is worth as much as Marks & Spencer, a British institution founded in 1884.
That seems to say all that you need to know about the state of the UK high street, doesn't
it?
Both groups are worth roughly 3.7 billion pounds each for now but the trend suggest that
Marks & Spencer won't be able to keep up with Boohoo, who targets youngsters who shop on their
mobile phones and want cheap clothing delivered quickly.
While the latter emerged like a clear winner of the 2019 Christmas shopping battle and
upgraded its full-year guidance, Marks & Spencer saw its performance over the key
festive quarter held back by waste in its food business and weak sales of menswear and gifts.
Marks & Spencer, which suffered from a series of rating downgrades, is struggling to boost
its clothing online presence and adapt to a fast changing market where consumers desert high
street shops.
On the other hand, Boohoo recently bought trendy brands such as PrettyLittleThing or Nasty
Gal and utilises high profile celebrities on social media, such as with model and actress Cara
Delevingne and pop group Little Mix, to advertise its products.
Here's a factbox with British winners and losers of the Christmas sales:
Here's a wrapup on the what the Christmas sales mean for the high street:
And here's Boohoo catching up with Marks & Spencer:
(Julien Ponthus and Thyagaraju Adinarayan)
*****
PROFIT TAKING? (0901 GMT)
Oops, did we just jinxed it?
Just when we said there was hardly any significant market moves over the past few days, here
comes a sharp fall for the pan-European STOXX 600, which has slid as much as 0.5%.
Traders cite the move to profit taking.
"Seems it's all a little over extended", a trader told us, pointing to a stellar rally since
the last quarter of 2019.
Though there aren't sharp moves among sectors, stocks have been gradually selling off all
this morning.
(Thyagaraju Adinarayan)
*****
OPENING SNAPSHOT: UP, FLAT, DOWN, REPEAT (0820 GMT)
Seems familiar doesn't it?
No major sectoral movers, bourses stuck in a range with moves ranging from slightly higher
to flat to slightly lower - that's roughly how stocks in Europe have moved in the past few
sessions.
Only exciting moves today are in niche sectors within the UK: gambling and construction.
UK gambling firms William Hill and GVC are taking a sharp hit after the
gambling commission said it would ban consumers from using credit cards to gamble.
Not everything is grim, UK construction stocks are partying after Grafton's
better-than-expected trading update for November and December, sending its shares 8% higher.
That's boosting shares of Travis Perkins and Howden Joinery 2%-3%.
Among others, Evonik is at the bottom of STOXX 600 after its controlling
shareholder sold a 5.2% stake at a discount.
(Thyagaraju Adinarayan)
*****
ON OUR RADAR: UK GAMBLING, BOOHOO AND TAYLOR WIMPEY (0746 GMT)
European stocks eye fresh record highs in build up to U.S. and China signing a preliminary
trade deal and as the earnings season officially kicks off with Wall Street banks JPMorgan, Citi
and Wells Fargo reporting at lunchtime.
In corporate news, UK gambling companies GVC Holdings, William Hill, Flutter
, Playtech are called 2%-3% lower by dealers after the gambling commission
said it would ban consumers from using credit cards to gamble.
Meanwhile, earnings in Europe have also started to trickle-in with Taylor Wimpey's
shares seen down 1% to 2% after the British homebuilder's in-line trading update fails to
impress investors.
Boohoo shares are seen rising 5% to 10% after the British online fashion retailer
raised its full-year outlook, a stark contrast to high street retailers.
German chemical company Evonik's shares are seen down 3%-4% after its controlling
shareholder sells a 5.2% stake in the company at a discount.
Traders call Renault shares 2% higher after the French carmaker and its partner
Nissan denied reports that their alliance was heading for a break-up.
Other earnings updates: Dialog Semi +2% after Q4 prelim sales beats; Elementis
-5% after profit warning; Suedzucker -1% after results.
(Thyagaraju Adinarayan)
*****
ALL'S WELL (0635 GMT)
A preliminary U.S.-China trade deal is just around the corner and that's fuelling optimism
in stock markets with spreadbetters calling European shares slightly higher.
Asia and the United States scaled yet another record peak overnight as the U.S. Treasury
Department on Monday dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator days ahead of
the signing of 'Phase 1' trade deal between the world's two largest economies.
Financial spreadbetters IG expect London's FTSE to open flat at 7,618, Frankfurt's DAX to
open 25 points higher at 13,477 and Paris' CAC to open 5 points higher at 6,041.
In companies news, Renault shares could bounce back from multi-year lows after the
French carmaker and its partner Nissan denied reports that their alliance was heading
for a break-up.
(Thyagaraju Adinarayan)
*****
(Reporting by Danilo Masoni, Joice Alves, Julien Ponthus and Thyagaraju Adinarayan)
