Dec 22 - 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 RECORD POWER PRICES: A "PERFECT STORM" FOR UTILITIES (1049 GMT) The record-breaking run in power prices during the crucial winter months might well pose another problem for Europe"s economic recovery just as Omicron sparks new restrictions, but for the European utility space it"s good news. Barclays sees a "very favourable" investment case and expects power price markets to possibly move even higher. "European generation is facing a "perfect storm", but we believe higher prices are still not adequately reflected in consensus earnings for utilities: One of the key arguments detailed in our recent reports is that Bloomberg consensus still does not reflect the power price rally," says the UK bank. "Given the gravity of the issues driving power prices higher, we think the scale of the likely EPS impact should drive increased investor positivity, particularly for European utilities that should benefit from high absolute power prices but have so far been left behind," it adds. They mentioned Enel (ENEI.MI), EDF (EDF.PA), Engie (ENGIE.PA) and RWE (RWEG.DE) as possible benefiaries. snapshot snapshot (Danilo Masoni) ***** TECH HELPS STOXX STAY AFLOAT (0828 GMT) European shares kicked off the session in a mixed fashion, with the STOXX 600 regional benchmark struggling to find a clear direction to trade just above parity in early deals. Strength among tech stocks was just partly offset by a retracement in commodity-related and travel stocks, helping the pan-European benchmark index stay afloat, up 0.2%. In single stocks, Delivery Hero rose 5% after the German food delivery group said it would scale down its Foodpanda operations in Germany and sell the subsidiary"s Japan unit. Here"s your opening snapshot: snapshot snapshot (Danilo Masoni) ***** LOOKING PAST OMICRON (0824 GMT) While politicians fret about Omicron and more countries mull expanding social distancing measures, stock markets continue to sail higher. What"s more, Wall Street"s Tuesday gains were led not by the usual lockdown beneficiaries in tech, but by shares such as Carnival and Expedia. We appear headed for a less buoyant session, though, with European shares edging higher following a robust Asian session and U.S. futures pointing south. Possibly, markets are already looking past the Omicron impact, pinning hopes on treatments such as the Pfizer and Moderna pills that may allow COVID patients to be treated at home. Another explanation, following the UK"s promise of aid to the hospitality sector, is the expectation that not just central banks, but also governments will be backstopping economies. In Britain, stakes are particularly high. Data shows third quarter GDP growth -- pre-Omicron -- grew slower than earlier thought, at 1.1%. The economy remains 1.5% smaller than pre-pandemic levels and more worryingly, Q3 business investment dropped 2.5% versus a year back. Still, bull markets are sustained by money and there is plenty of that around. This is reflected in the record $1.75 trillion parked by U.S. banks at the Fed"s overnight repo facility on Tuesday, showing the excess reserves glut which pushed the repo rate below 0.05% for the first time since October . As a reminder, overnight reverse repo demand was $1.6 trillion a week ago and was below $1 trillion in August. Action continues in emerging markets, meanwhile. The Turkish lira is some 30% off record lows following authorities" promise of compensation for deposit holders against currency losses. But the move stores up problems for coming months; JPMorgan, for instance, estimates that a 12% lira depreciation compared to lira interest rates will increase the budget deficit by around 1% of GDP over six months. Later in the day, the Czech National Bank may up rates as much as 75 basis points, following November"s massive 125 bps move. World stocks have seen $10 trillion surge in value in 2021 World stocks have seen $10 trillion surge in value in 2021 Key developments that should provide more direction to markets on Wednesday: -Thailand central bank holds rates read more -Czech National Bank holds monetary policy meeting -U.S. final GDP Q3/Q3 corporate profits/consumer confidence/existing home sales (Sujata Rao) ***** EUROPE: STOCKS SET TO EXTEND REBOUND (0734 GMT) European shares are set to extend yesterday"s rebound, as investors look past possible short-term damage from the highly infectious Omicron virus variant, keeping confidence in the economy"s growth potential. The region"s stock index futures are up 0.3-0.5%, adding to gains in the previous session that saw the commodity-linked and travel stocks help the STOXX score its best day in two weeks. Volumes however are starting to fade ahead of the Christmas holiday break, possibly making trading moves more erratic. Over in Asia, shares are also broadly up as the risk appetite returns heading into year-end, while U.S. index futures are easing slightly after a strong close. Credit Suisse downgraded this week equities to neutral, citing near-term risks associated with Omicron just as high inflation could lead to tighter monetary policy. Nevertheless it said stocks had upside potential over 6-month time horizon. read more (Danilo Masoni)