European Shares Mostly Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - European stocks were broadly higher on Monday after tumbling last week on worries about a recession and bets of bigger interest-rate hikes from major central banks.

ECB President Christine Lagarde is scheduled to address the European Parliament in Brussels later today, with investors awaiting more clues on the new crisis tool that would help prevent a disorderly blowout in borrowing costs in weaker eurozone countries.

Investors also await a congressional appearance by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell this week that could highlight the U.S. central bank's resolve to guide inflation back to the Fed's 2 percent target.

The pan European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.3 percent to 404.38 after ending little changed with a positive bias on Friday.

The German DAX rose 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gained 0.6 percent while Franc's CAC 40 index was marginally lower after French President Emmanuel Macron lost control of the National Assembly in legislative elections on Sunday.

Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA added 1 percent after QatarEnergy selected the Italian oil and gas company as a new partner for the first phase of the North Field liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion project.

Banks topped the gainers list in London, with Barclays and Lloyds Bank rising 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. HSBC Holdings shares were up more than 3 percent.

EasyJet shares tumbled 3.5 percent after the airline announced plans to cut more flights over the busy summer period in response to staff shortages and flight caps at London Gatwick and Amsterdam.

Associated British Foods edged up slightly after reporting an increase in fiscal third-quarter revenue.

SThree, a pure-play specialist staffing business, jumped 5.5 percent after it forecast annual profit above market expectations.

Airplane maker Airbus SE rose half a percent in Paris on news it is in discussions with Qatar Airways to try to resolve a bitter legal and safety dispute over the A350 passenger jet.

Valneva shares jumped 18 percent after U.S. healthcare giant Pfizer agreed to invest 90.5 million euros ($95.24 million) to buy an 8.1 percent stake in the French specialty vaccines company.

In economic releases, German producer price inflation rose to a fresh record high in May, driven by energy prices, data from Destatis showed earlier today.

Producer prices logged a double-digit growth of 33.6 percent year-on-year in May, following April's 33.5 percent increase. The rate was forecast to grow again by 33.5 percent.

On a monthly basis, producer prices gained 1.6 percent after rising 2.8 percent in April. Economists had forecast prices to climb 1.5 percent.