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BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPE STEADY, DEFENCE CHARGES UP

European shares were set for a muted start on Monday as tensions between Europe and the U.S. over Ukraine and tariffs sparked some caution following eight weeks of gains that have pushed the region's equity benchmarks to new record highs.

Wall Street will remain closed for President's Day, likely reducing activity, just as a return of optimism over China's battered tech helped drive Tencent 0700.HK up 8% in Hong Kong.

Tencent said on Sunday its Weixin messaging app has launched beta testing with DeepSeek as firms race to link up with China's rising artificial intelligence start-up.

Further underpinning the upbeat mood towards China's tech sector was a meeting between President Xi Jinping and business leaders including Alibaba 9988.HK co-founder Jack Ma.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron will host European leaders for an emergency summit on Ukraine after U.S. officials suggested Europe would have no role in any talks aimed at ending the conflict.

That clearly was set to keep defence stocks in focus. German arms maker Rheinmetall RHMG.DE said it expects to keep growing even faster than earlier thought, given U.S. calls on Europe to boost defence spending and take responsibility for its own security.

In early trading on Tradegate, Rheinmetall and other defence stocks Hensoldt HAGG.DE and Renk R3NK.DE rose sharply and were among the top executed orders.

(Danilo Masoni)

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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:

HEY, ASIA HAS TECH SHARES TOO