European Shares Gain On US Rate Cut Hopes

(RTTNews) - European stocks edged up slightly on Tuesday ahead of key U.S. inflation figures and earnings from AI darling Nvidia due later in the week.

French politics were in focus after President Emmanuel Macron refused to name a prime minister from the left-wing New Popular Front alliance (NFP), which won the most seats in last month's snap election.

In economic releases, the German economy contracted, as initially estimated, in the second quarter due to weak household consumption and investment, official data revealed.

GDP fell 0.1 percent sequentially, in line with the flash estimate, following a 0.2 percent rise in the first quarter, according to final results from Destatis.

Meanwhile, hopes of a consumer-driven recovery in the second half of the year got another hit with German consumer confidence dropping.

A monthly survey data from the market research group Gfk revealed that the forward-looking consumer confidence index fell to -22.0 from revised -18.6 in August.

The pan-European STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.3 percent to 519.72 after snapping a three-day winning streak in the previous session amid light volumes.

The German DAX, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 all were up around 0.4 percent.

In corporate news, Swiss airport operator Flughafen Zuerich lost nearly 4 percent after reporting first-half results below estimates.

Sandvik AB rose half a percent after it agreed to acquire Universal Field Robots (UFR).

Rheinmetall AG was little changed. The German arms and automotive company said that it will start making exhaust gas recirculation valves or EGR valves for a "renowned car manufacturer."

Daimler Truck Holding AG fell about 1 percent as Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "buy".

Miners traded higher in London, with Antofagasta rising 1.2 percent and Anglo American rallying 2.4 percent as copper prices climbed to their highest levels in nearly six weeks on U.S rate-cut optimism.

Bunzl soared almost 9 percent after the distribution and outsourcing group posted strong earnings and announced a share buyback plan.

Associated British Foods fell 2.7 percent as Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the stock to "sell" from "hold".