By Shashwat Chauhan and Jesus Calero
(Reuters) – European shares advanced on Wednesday, with mining and technology stocks among top gainers, while focus remained on crucial U.S. inflation data and French elections due later in the week.
The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.4% as of 0826 GMT, with the technology sub-index rising 1.4%, tracking an overnight rally on Wall Street. [.N]
Industrials added 0.7%, underpinned by Germany’s DHL with a 2.1% jump after U.S. peer FedEx forecast its fiscal 2025 profit above analysts’ estimates.
Basic resources added 1.2% amid elevated metal prices, while autos bucked the trend with a 0.4% decline.
Europe’s largest carmaker Volkswagen slipped close to 1% after the company said it will invest up to $5 billion as part of a joint venture with electric vehicle maker Rivian .
Focus remained on a U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) reading due on Friday, which could play a key role in gauging the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.
“We all know the CPI data for May was surprisingly weak. That gives you a decent sense of what the PCE number is going to be like,” said Daniel Morris, chief market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management.
“Recent comments from (Fed) members suggest they want to wait and see a more consistent sustained trend in low inflation,” Morris said, adding that one month’s data would not imply much and the Fed may want to be past the U.S. election before taking any decisions.
Consumer price data from France, Spain and Italy are also due this week.
Also on tap are the first round of French parliamentary elections later in the week. France’s benchmark CAC 40 was last up 0.3%.
Among other stocks, Alfen tumbled 41.6% after the Dutch energy storage specialist and EV infrastructure provider issued a profit warning.
Shares of UK’s Deliveroo rose 3.8% following a Reuters report that U.S. meal delivery group Doordash had flagged an interest in a takeover of the company last month.
Danske Bank added 1% after the Danish lender raised its net profit forecast for 2024.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru and Jesus Calero in Gdansk; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sohini Goswami)
