Milan's FTSE MIB gains 0.51%, London's FTSE 100 up 0.22% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milan , 05 Jun - European share prices were higher in early trade, bouncing back from losses in yesterday's session as investors looked ahead to an expected European Central Bank rate cut tomorrow.

The European Central Bank is widely expected to trim rates by 0.25 percentage points 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.

On the data front, European purchasing managers indicators for the services sector and composite could help provide a gauge on the health of the economy.

Figures out from Spain earlier this morning were encouraging.

In May, Spain's purchasing managers' index for the services sector rose to 56.9 from 56.2 in April, marking the ninth successive monthly increase in business activity, according to data released by S&P Global and Hamburg Commercial Bank.

The composite output index, a weighted average of services PMI and manufacturing output, rose to 56.6, its highest reading since March 2023, from 55.7 in the previous month.

A reading below 50 signals contracting sector activity, while one above an expansion.

Figures are also out this morning from Italy, France, Germany, the eurozone as a whole and the UK.

At 0730 GMT, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.22% at 8,250.43 points while in Frankfurt the DAX was 0.51% higher at 18,512.25 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.51% to 7,978.54 points. Milan's FTSE MIB was up 0.51% at 34,451.00 points while in Madrid the IBEX 35 added 0.67% to 11,361.50 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 05-06-24 09:50:27 (0210) 5 NNNN