LIVE MARKETS-Before the Bell: Europe rises into busiest earnings week as oil tumbles

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BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPE RISES INTO BUSIEST EARNINGS WEEK AS OIL TUMBLES

European shares are set to open sharply higher on Monday as a pause in fighting involving Iran and a sharp drop in oil and bond prices boost risk appetite ahead of a week packed with central bank decisions and earnings from the world's biggest technology companies.

Euro STOXX 50 .STOXX50E and Germany's DAX .GDAXI futures are gaining around 1%, tracking advances in Asia and on Wall Street futures after crude prices fell more than 6%, easing inflation concerns and supporting hopes policymakers may not need to tighten policy further.

The main drag on European benchmarks is likely to come from energy .SXEP, with Equinor EQNR.OL, BP BP.L, TotalEnergies TTEF.PA, and Eni ENI.MI down 2-6% premarket after the U.S. and Iran extended a pause in strikes.

Expectations that cheaper oil could support margins and consumer spending, are helping travel stocks, lifting Ryanair RYA.I, British Airways owner IAG ICAG.L and TUI TUI1n.DE around 2% before the bell.

Elsewhere, Vodafone VOD.L is indicated up 2% after stronger-than-expected quarterly service revenue growth, while AstraZeneca AZN.L beat earnings forecasts.

Luxury was also seen higher with LVMH LVMH.PA rising over 1% premarket ahead of its quarterly sales after the market close.

Investors are also bracing for a busy week in which the Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan all meet, while Microsoft MSFT.O, Meta META.O, Apple AAPL.O and Amazon AMZN.O report results this week, alongside South Korea's Samsung Electronics 005930.KS and SK Hynix 000660.KS.

This is the busiest week of the earnings season, with companies accounting for around 40% of the STOXX's .STOXX market capitalisation and 34% of the S&P 500 due to report results.

(Danilo Masoni)

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