FTSE 100 up 0.15%; DAX up 0.16%; CAC 40 up 0.38% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 11 Jul - European shares opened slightly higher in cautious trade after yesterday's gains, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.16%.

Investors digested dovish comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell that spurred optimism over a soft landing for the US economy.

Traders now awaited the US consumer price index reading due later today to assess the Fed's interest rate path, amid growing bets on lower US interest rates.

The June inflation rate is expected to come in 3.1% year over year, lower than the 3.3% seen in May, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.

The core inflation rate, which strips out more volatile food and energy prices, is expected to rise 3.4% since June last year.

The S&P climbed yesterday above the 5,600 mark for the first time in its 37th record close this year, while the Nasdaq logged its 27th record close of 2024.

Back in Europe, data showed that the UK economy swung back to growth in May, rising by 0.4% and beating expectations for a 0.2% increase. The British pound hit a four-month high against the dollar on the news.

In June, German consumer prices rose 0.1% on the previous month and grew 2.2% year on year, according to a final reading by the statistics office Destatis. Harmonised consumer prices, calculated for European Union purposes, grew 0.2% on the previous month and 2.5% year on year. The final data confirmed the preliminary readings.

Caution prevailed in the region amid prospects of a hung parliament in France after a surprise win last Sunday for the country's leftwing coalition, the New Popular Front (Nouveau Front Populaire). The bloc won the second round of the general election, thwarting an expected surge of the far-right, but failed to secure an absolute majority.

The French election results came after a general election in the UK last week that saw the opposition Labour Party win a landslide victory as expected, ending 14 years in power for the Conservative Party.

In European stock market dealings most sectors were higher, with construction shares leading the gains.

At 0730 GMT the London FTSE 100 was up 0.15% at 8,205 points, the Frankfurt DAX was up 0.16% at 18,446 points, the Paris CAC 40 up 0.38% at 7,602 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB was down 0.09% at 34,277 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 was up 0.05% at 11,076 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 11-07-24 09:52:39 (0210) 5 NNNN