FTSE 100 up 0.59%; DAX up 1.08%; CAC 40 up 1.61% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan, 03 Jul - European shares were broadly higher at mid-session, rebounding from yesterday's losses, with the Stoxx 600 index up 0.84%.

At 1125 GMT, the London FTSE 100 was up 0.59% at 8,168 points, the Frankfurt DAX was up 1.08% at 18,349 points, the Paris CAC 40 up 1.61% at 7,659 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB was up 1.40% at 33,950 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 was up 1.22% at 11,046 points.

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.

AAA-Ver

(RADIOCOR) 03-07-24 13:39:18 (0375) 5 NNNN