FTSE up 0.04%; DAX up 0.84%; CAC 40 up 0.29% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 06 Jun - European shares opened higher, extending yesterday's gains as investors looked ahead to an expected European Central Bank rate cut later today. The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.60% in early trade.

The central bank is widely expected to trim rates by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75% in the first rate cut since 2019.

It would be the first time the ECB would have eased ahead of the US Federal Reserve.

The region's stock markets tracked overnight gains on Wall Street, where US stocks climbed to record highs.

Growing optimism over lower interest rates across the globe helped support investor sentiment, with weak US labor market data ramping up an interest cut by the Fed might be on the cards earlier than feared. The report came a day after the Labor Department said job openings had fallen in April to the fewest in more than three years.

Strong labor market readings have stoked concern the Federal Reserve may have to keep interest rate cuts higher for longer as it strives to bring inflation down. The focus now shifts to key payrolls data on Friday.

In European stock market dealings technology shares were among the biggest advancers, tracking their global peers higher after US giant Nvidia Corporation soared to a 3 trillion valuation valuation yesterday amid persistent hype over AI.

Healthcare shares also were among the biggest advancers, while utilities bucked the trend and slipped.

At 0735 GMT the London FTSE 100 was up 0.04% at 8,250 points, the Frankfurt DAX added 0.84% at 18,726 points, the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.29% at 8,029 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB gained 0.02% at 34,514 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 was up 0.13% at 11,367 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 06-06-24 09:52:29 (0198) 5 NNNN