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19/03/2025 09:03
STOXX 600 down 0.15% IT firm Softcat biggest gainer, up 10% after results Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com. MORE WORLD NEWS TO WATCH European shares are down slightly in early trading, with a more than enough going on in the world to keep investors jittery. Adding to the long list of geopolitical developments to track, on Wednesday, Turkish authorities detained President Tayyip Erdogan's main political rival on charges including corruption and aiding a terrorist group, in what the main opposition party called "a coup attempt against our next president". Analysts said that was filtering through into European markets including the euro EUR=EBS which was trading lower. Europe's broad STOXX 600 .STOXX was down 0.2%. Most national benchmarks were down though Italy outperformed up 0.35%. .FTMIB There was also another soft session on Wall Street overnight, though U.S. share futures were up marginally. The clock is ticking to the Federal Reserve's decision on monetary policy later, which is expected to yield no change in interest rates. .N The biggest gainer in the STOXX 600 was British IT services provider Softcat SCTS.L up 10% after raising its full-year operating profit growth forecast, bolstered by a boom in demand for artificial intelligence and automation. (Alun John) ***** EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: BUY THE RUMOUR (A LOT) SELL THE FACT (A BIT) CLICK HERE MORNING BID EUROPE-CENTRAL BANKS TAKE THE LIMELIGHT, BRIEFLY CLICK HERE