The return of meat on the menu is a feature of MORNING BID, EUROPE

Gregor Stuart Hunter gives us a look at what the future holds for European and global markets.

Investors may feel tender this morning, after a brutal after-hours session that smashed tech megacaps as well as high-flying meme stocks.

Beyond Meat's shares fell 11.4% after-hours, as the company that was heavily shorted for its fake meat reversed direction after retail investors flocked to the stock. The share price had risen as high as 1,479% in the last week.

Tesla shares dropped 3.8% after-hours, after the electric-car maker failed to meet analysts' expectations despite a record third-quarter sales that exceeded estimates.

Netflix's stock fell by more than 10 percent on Wednesday after investors were not impressed with the company's outlook for the next quarter.

Although the megacaps disappointed investors, the majority of companies have so far beaten analyst's estimates.

This helped S&P500 e-minis rise 0.2% in Asian trade, stabilising the market after two days of losses for U.S. shares on Wall Street.

After a report that said the White House was considering a plan for a halt to software exports into China as retaliation against Beijing's recent round of restrictions on rare earth exports, Asian markets shook, with Chinese shares falling as much as 1,1%, before recovering.

MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific share index outside Japan has narrowed its earlier losses by as much as 0.6%, after U.S. president Donald Trump stated that he expected to still reach an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping at their meeting in South Korea next Thursday.

The news of sanctions also shook the energy markets. Brent crude rose 2.7% to $64.28 a barrel, after the White House announced Ukraine-related sanctions against Russian oil companies Lukoil & Rosneft.

Early European trading saw pan-regional futures flat, German DAX Futures down 0.2%, and FTSE Futures 0.1% lower.

The following are key developments that may influence the markets on Thursday.

Earnings: Unilever, Intel Corporation (Freeport-McMoRan Inc), T-Mobile US Inc., Blackstone Inc.

Economic Data

France's Business Climate for October

U.K.: CBI Business Confidence for Q4, GfK October Consumer Confidence

Euro Zone Consumer Confidence Flash: October

Debt auctions:

U.K. : 5-year government bond auction (By Gregor Stuart Hunter, Editing by Jacqueline Wong).

(source: Reuters)