European Shares Edge Higher On Rate Cut Hopes

(RTTNews) - European shares edged higher on Monday despite U.S. President Donald Trump's warning to impose tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the United States, and a pledge to impose other reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Underlying sentiment was underpinned by hopes for more monetary easing by the European Central Bank after ECB Governing Council member Boris Vujcic said that expectations for three more rate reductions this year are reasonable.

The European economic calendar remains light, with Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence data due later in the day.

Earlier in the day, a report compiled by S&P Global showed that U.K. job vacancies decreased the most since August 2020.

Vacancy numbers fell especially sharply for permanent worker, with the rate of contraction accelerating for the fifth successive month, as higher cost of employing staff due to the changes in government policies weighed on hiring activity,

The pan European STOXX 600 edged up by 0.3 percent to 544.45 after falling 0.4 percent on Friday.

The German DAX gained 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 added 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up half a percent.

Higher oil prices boosted energy stocks, with TotalEnergies SE rising nearly 1 percent. BP jumped 7.2 percent after activist investor Elliott Investment Management built a stake in the company.

Finland's Nokia advanced 1.6 percent after appointing a new CEO.

Engineering company GTT Group fell 4 percent in Paris after announcing the resignation of its chief executive, Jean-Baptiste Choimet.

Johnson Matthey, a global leader in sustainable technologies, gained 1 percent after naming Richard Pike as its new CFO.