European Shares Climb As Inflation Expectations Ease

(RTTNews) - European stocks edged higher on Monday to hit a two-week high as investors reassessed the expected path of Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes in the light of falling inflation expectations.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.2 percent to 417.72 after surging 2.6 percent on Friday - its best single-day gain in more than three months.

The German DAX jumped 1.7 percent, France's CAC 40 index rose about percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.8 percent.

Commodity-related stocks were gaining ground as restrictions in Shanghai and Beijing continue to ease.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore jumped 2-3 percent.

Oil & gas firm BP Plc edged up half a percent and Shell rose about 1 percent. Luxury retailers LVMH and Richemont both gained around 2 percent as early indicators for China's economic activity tracked by Bloomberg suggested an improvement in activity during June.

Prosus NV shares soared 14 percent. The Dutch-based technology investor is planning to sell more of its $134 billion stake in Chinese software giant Tencent, owner of WeChat, to finance a buyback program.

Intesa Sanpaolo rallied 2.4 percent. The Italian bank has received supervisory clearance from the European Central Bank (ECB) to buy back its own shares for up to 3.4 billion euros ($3.6 billion).

French pharmaceutical company Ipsen SA slumped 4.2 percent after it announced an agreement to acquire Epizyme, Inc. (EPZM), a company focused on delivering novel epigenetic therapies.

Sandvik AB, a Swedish engineering company, surged 4.2 percent after it signed an agreement to acquire Portugal-based Frezigest, SGPS, or Frezite.