European Shares Inch Higher Before Key Inflation Readings

(RTTNews) - European stocks traded higher on Monday ahead of consumer price inflation figures from Germany, Spain and France due later in the week.

The governing council of the European Central Bank will meet on Thursday, and it is widely expected that the board will reduce interest rates for the second time this year.

Elsewhere, the U.S. Labour Department will release the consumer price index early Wednesday and the producer price index before Thursday's open. Tame readings could give policymakers ammo for making a 50-bps rate cut on Sept. 18.

Meanwhile, the Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence Index declined from -13.9 in August to -15.4 in September, the latest survey showed today.

Investors also shrugged off the results of another survey that showed Britain's labour market cooled noticeably last month.

The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.7 percent at 510.31 after falling 1.1 percent on Friday in its worst day since early August.

The German DAX, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 all were up around 0.7 percent.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore were up 1-2 percent while energy giant BP Plc edged up half a percent and peer Shell added 0.8 percent.

Entain jumped 8.2 percent after the gambling group said its U.K. and Ireland online business has returned to growth earlier than anticipated.

Housebuilder Barratt Developments gained 1 percent and lender Lloyds Banking Group advanced 1.6 percent after they have launched a £150m joint venture with the government body Homes England.

German sportswear brand Adidas AG slumped 4 percent after Barclays downgraded its rating on the stock to "equal weight" from "overweight".