European Shares Climb As Manufacturing Downturn Eases In May

European stocks traded higher on Monday amid bets that the European Central Bank (ECB) will deliver its first interest-rate cut of the cycle on Thursday.

Also helping underpin investor sentiment, Eurozone manufacturing PMI was finalized at 47.3 in May, up from April’s 45.7 and reaching a 14-month high.

Elsewhere, a survey by S&P Global showed manufacturing in the U.K. increased to 51.2 in May, up from April’s 49.1 and marking the highest reading since July 2022.

The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.6 percent at 521.33, extending gains for a third consecutive session.

The German DAX jumped 1 percent, France’s CAC 40 added 0.6 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.3 percent.

In corporate news, Sweden’s Ericsson rose nearly 2 percent after saying that a four-year program to monitor the company’s compliance with a U.S. anti-corruption agreement had ended on June 2.

British drug maker GSK plunged 9.2 percent after a state court in Delaware found legitimate evidence that links its Zantac heartburn drug to cancer, allowing more than 70,000 lawsuits over these cases.

Sirius Real Estate added 1.8 percent. The owner and operator of branded business and industrial parks in Germany and the U.K. has announced a higher FFO for the year ended March 31, 2024.

Cerillion, a provider of billing, charging and customer management systems to the telecoms industry, rose 1.3 percent after announcing a project with Virgin Media Ireland.

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