FTSE 100 up 0.46%; DAX up 0.70%; CAC 40 up 0.84% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 03 Jul - European shares opened higher, rebounding from yesterday's losses, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.42%.

The region's stock markets tracked overnight gains on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 and the Nasqaq Composite finished at record highs after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell flagged some 'progress' in bringing down inflation, reinforcing expectations the central bank could soon cut interest rates.

Traders are now awaiting the minutes of the Fed's June meeting due today, while key US labor market data is also on tap this week with nonfarm payrolls due on Friday.

Investors also braced for national parliamentary elections in the UK and France.

Britain's general election, scheduled for tomorrow, looks set to end 14 years in power for the Conservative Party as opinion polls give a large lead to Keir Starmer's opposition Labour Party over prime minister Rishi Sunak's Tories.

Traders also awaited 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.

European shares closed lower in the previous session as investors assessed the latest regional inflation data, with eurozone headline dropping slightly, in line with expectations, after an uptick in May, while the closely-watched core and services prints held steady, coming in slightly higher that expected.

At 0730 GMT the London FTSE 100 was up 0.46% at 8,158 points, the Frankfurt DAX was up 0.70% at 18,280 points, the Paris CAC 40 up 0.84% at 7,601 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB was up 1.06% at 33,835 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 was up 0.63% at 10,982 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 03-07-24 09:42:23 (0191) 5 NNNN