A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Gregor Stuart Hunter

Investors might feel a little tender this morning after a grinding after-hours session pounded tech megacaps and high-flying meme stocks alike.

Beyond Meat ( BYND ) plummeted 11.4% in after-hours trading as the heavily-shorted fake-meat company reversed course after a retail-investor frenzy that has pushed its shares up as much as 1,479% during the past week alone.

And it's not just meme stocks under pressure: Tesla shares fell 3.8% in after-hours after the electric car maker reported profit that failed to live up to analysts' expectations, despite record third-quarter revenue that beat estimates.

Streaming firm Netflix ( NFLX ), which left investors unimpressed with its outlook for the upcoming quarter, saw its stock slide by more than 10% on Wednesday.

Though the megacaps have disappointed investors, the vast majority of companies that have reported so far have beaten analysts' estimates. 

That's helped S&P 500 e-mini futures edge up 0.2% in Asian trading, stabilising after two days of declines for U.S. stocks on Wall Street.

But Asian markets reeled, with Chinese stocks down as much as 1.1% before rebounding, after a Reuters report that the White House is considering a plan to curb an array of software-powered exports to China to retaliate against Beijing's latest round of rare earth export restrictions.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan narrowed earlier losses of as much as 0.6% after U.S. President Donald Trump said he still expected to reach agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping when they meet in South Korea next week.

Sanctions news also rattled the energy markets, with Brent crude up 2.7% at $64.28 per barrel after the White House imposed Ukraine-related sanctions targeting Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft on Wednesday.

In early European trades, pan-region futures were trading flat, German DAX futures were down 0.2% and FTSE futures were 0.1% lower.

Key developments that could influence markets on Thursday:

Earnings:

Lloyds Banking Group plc ( LYG ), Unilever, Intel Corporation ( INTC ), Freeport-McMoRan Inc ( FCX ), T-Mobile US Inc, Blackstone Inc ( BX )

Economic data:

France: Business Climate for October

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

Euro Zone: Consumer Confidence Flash for October

Debt auctions:

U.K.: 5-year government debt auction