LIVE MARKETS-Europe before the bell: Back near record highs

Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at . EUROPE BEFORE THE BELL: BACK NEAR RECORD HIGHS So much for all those worries about AI, European stock futures are pointing higher with many indexes back near their record highs hit last month as the sentiment boost from this week’s Federal Reserve meeting continues to dominate markets. Euro STOXX 50 futures (STXEc1) are trading 0.5% higher, and if the cash market opens in the same place, that’d take us about half way back to mid November’s all time high. (.STOXX50E) It’s a pretty similar story for the STOXX 600, (.STOXX) while Spain’s financials heavy IBEX (.IBEX) is already in uncharted territory, not surprising given broad European banking stocks are set for a 3% gain. (.SX7P) The S&P 500 posted a record closing high. Thursday’s tech drama around Oracle (ORCL.N) is still in the mix too mind you especially with Broadcom (AVGO.O) falling in aftermarket and Frankfurt trading, after its results. Are we going to see the research notes about Europe being a diversifier from AI again soon? At the open it’ll be worth watching BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) . France’s biggest bank just said it has entered exclusive talks to sell its 67% stake in its Moroccan unit BMCI to Holmarcom Group. Otherwise strong Lululemon (LULU.O) results overnight could help European retailers, while GSK (GSK.L) said on Friday a panel of the European Medicines Agency had backed the use of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, Arexvy for all adults above the age of 18, and Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO launched Ozempic in India on Friday. (Alun John) EARLIER LIVE MARKETS POSTS MORNING BID COPPER EDGES PAST SILVER TO TAKE GOLD CLICK HERE