FTSE 100 up 0.39%; DAX up 0.70%; CAC 40 up 0.39% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 05 Jul - European shares opened higher, extending yesterday's gains, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.33% as investors digested the results of the UK general election.

The country's opposition Labour Party yesterday won a historic landslide victory as expected, ending 14 years in power for the Conservative Party.

Exit polls indicate at the Labour Party could obtain 410 of the 650 seats in parliament, giving a 170-seat majority in the House of Commons, the lower house of the UK parliament.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives are expected to win 119 seats, the worst result in the party's history.

Keir Starmer, who is due to become the UK's new prime minister, has promised a 'national renewal' after 14 years of Conservative rule. 'Our task is nothing less than renewing the ideas that hold this country together. National renewal.

Whoever you are, wherever you started in life, if you work hard, if you play by the rules, this country should give you a fair chance to get on,' Starmer said.

Investors also awaited key US nonfarm payrolls data due later today.

Traders also looked ahead to Sunday's runoff vote in France after Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National) party last Sunday scored historic gains in the first round of the parliamentary election, but by a smaller margin than what some polls had suggested.

The Rassemblement National and allies won 33.1% of the vote, followed by the leftist New Popular Front (Nouveau Front Populaire) bloc with 28%, and president Emmanuel Macron's centrists trailing behind in third place with 20%.

The projections suggested that no one party has won an outright majority of at least 289 seats, pointing to a hung parliament and sparking intense negotiations between the parties this week on how to join forces in each of France's 577 constituencies.

Both the far-right and the left-wing alliance have pledged big spending increases, sparking concerns over clashes with the EU as the country already struggles with high budget deficit, recently prompting the EU to recommend disciplinary steps.

President Emmanuel Macron called for a snap legislative vote in a political gamble after a crushing defeat for his party in the European Parliament elections.

At 0730 GMT the London FTSE 100 was up 0.39% at 8,273 points, the Frankfurt DAX was up 0.70% at 18,581 points, the Paris CAC 40 up 0.39% at 7,725 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB was up 0.50% at 34,276 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 was up 0.20% at 11,088 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 05-07-24 09:54:23 (0207) 5 NNNN