July 29 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in European

and global markets from Wayne Cole.

Asian equities have started the week with a solid bounce -

well, all but China where lower interest rates seem to have only

reinforced investors' concerns about its economy.

Wall Street and European stock futures are also higher,

perhaps anticipating at least dovish guidance from the Federal

Reserve and the Bank of England, if not an actual rate cut from

the latter.

In the Middle East, fears mounted of a widening conflict

following a rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights,

which Israel and the United States blamed on Lebanese armed

group Hezbollah. Oil prices inched up after the news, while some

flights at Beirut airport have been cancelled or delayed due to

insurance risks.

Stock futures are fully priced for a quarter-point easing by

the Fed in September and even imply a 12% chance of 50 basis

points. There is 70 basis points of easing priced in by

Christmas and rates are seen at 3.6% by the end of 2025, which

is where markets think the new neutral is.

Investors are divided on whether the Bank of England will

ease at its meeting on Thursday, with futures showing a 52%

probability of a cut to 5%.

The Bank of Japan holds its meeting on Wednesday and markets

imply a 66% chance it will hike rates by 10 basis points to

0.2%, with some chance it could move by 15 basis points.

Also due this week are the U.S. jobs report for July,

closely watched surveys on U.S. and global manufacturing, and

Eurozone gross domestic product and inflation data.

The U.S. Treasury will outline later on Monday how much in

bonds it plans to sell for the quarter, while China's politburo

meeting could reveal more stimulus following surprise rate cuts

last week.

For Wall Street, around 40% of the S&P500 by market worth

report this week, including tech darlings Microsoft ( MSFT ),

Apple ( AAPL ), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Facebook parent Meta

Platforms ( META ).

Expectations are lofty, so any hint of disappointment will

test the mega-caps' sky-high valuations. Options imply

Microsoft's ( MSFT ) shares could rise or fall almost 5% after its

results late on Tuesday.

And just a note on U.S. politics: PredictIT now shows Trump

at 53 cents and Harris at 50 cents. A couple of weeks ago, Trump

was at 64 cents and Harris at 27 cents.

Key developments that could influence markets on Monday:

- UK consumer credit figures for June

- Dallas Fed manufacturing activity

- US Treasury announces quarterly borrowing estimates

- Company earnings include McDonald's and Loews