Europe before the bell: futures sink on trade jitters
EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: FUTURES SINK ON TRADE JITTERS
European futures are signalling drops at the open, as traders refocus on trade uncertainty even after President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he was very happy with a trade deal that restored a fragile truce in the U.S.-China trade war.
Rising tensions in the Middle East are also weighing.
Euro STOXX 50 futures 
FESX1! are sinking 0.9% as are futures on the DAX 
DAX1! while FTSE 
Z1! are faring slightly better, down 0.5%.
In company news, Britain's Reckitt RKT.L is talking exclusively to private equity firm Advent International over a sale of the consumer goods group's Essential Home business, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Airbus 
AIR is "cautiously hopeful" that it can meet a 2025 target of 820 deliveries, the CEO of its core planemaking business said.
In the UK, Tesco 
TSCO is out with a Q1 trading update showing a pick-up in underlying sales, and homebuilder Crest Nicholson has reported adjusted pre-tax profit more than tripled in H1.
On the data front, markets are still digesting Wednesday's slightly softer-than-expected U.S. CPI print, while on Thursday morning data showed Britain's economic output contracted sharply in April.
(Lucy Raitano)
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