FTSE 100 down 0.29%; DAX down 0.37%; CAC 40 down 0.35% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 04 Jun - European shares opened slightly lower as a recent rally lost steam and investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank's latest interest rate decision on Thursday. The Stoxx 600 index was down 0.40% in early trade.

The region's stock markets tracked overnight losses on Wall Street, where shares slid after data showed that US manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell in May.

The European Central Bank is considered almost certain to trim rates by a quarter point 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.

Investors mulled a higher-than-expected eurozone inflation print released on Friday, but continued to weigh the prospects of a June rate cut after a slew of key policymakers said the ECB has room to lower interest rates as inflation slows.

The Bank of Canada is also expected to slash rates this week, while the US Federal Reserve is seen keeping rates steady next week.

In European stock market dealings oil and gas shares were also among the biggest decliners, while household goods stocks bucked the trend and rose.

At 0730 GMT the FTSE 100 was down 0.29% at 8,238 points, the the Frankfurt DAX was down 0.37% at 18,542 points. The Paris CAC 40 was down 0.35% at 7,969 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB was down 0.26% at 34,580 points and in Madrid the IBEX 35 was down 0.01% at 11,395 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 04-06-24 09:50:04 (0202) 5 NNNN