European Shares Inch Higher Ahead Of Fed Meeting

European stocks rose on Monday as buoyant expectations for global economic recovery helped investors shrug off fears about rising inflation.

U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly today as investors adopted a wait-and-see approach ahead of this week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 rose half a percent after declining 0.3 percent on Friday to snap a four-session winning streak.

The German DAX edged up 0.3 percent, while France’s CAC 40 index and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 were up around 0.4 percent.

Automakers and travel-related stocks were on the rise across the region on optimism about economic recovery.

French food company Danone rallied nearly 4 percent on news that Emmanuel Faber would step down as chairman and chief executive due to growing pressure from shareholders.

Roche Holding rose about 1 percent. The Swiss pharmaceutical firm said it is offering $24.05 a share for GenMark Diagnostics, a U.S.-based maker of molecular diagnostic tests.

Swedish clothing retailer H&M rose 0.6 percent. The company said that sales in the period 1-13 March this year increased 10 percent in local currencies compared with the same period in 2020.

Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia gained 1.4 percent after saying it will expand the Self-Organizing Networks (SON) technology across 5G networks operated by Orange. Shares of the latter advanced 1.5 percent.

Flutter Entertainment shares surged 7 percent. The owner of the Paddy Power and Betfair brands said it is considering an initial public offering of its U.S.-focused FanDuel sports betting and fantasy sports business.

Provident Financial shares slumped as much as 28 percent. The credit lender said the Financial Conduct Authority has opened an investigation into conduct issues at its home credit business over the past year.

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