European stocks advanced higher to start the week as investors look ahead to the June meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
TICKER COMPANY NAME PRICE CHANGE %CHANGE VOLUME
.FTSE FTSE 100 FTSE 7165.45 31.39 0.44 35672156
.GDAXI DAX DAX 15757.43 64.16 0.41 4607077
.FCHI CAC 40 Index CAC 6636.94 36.28 0.55 4584483
The pan-European Stoxx 600 gained 0.5% in early trade after closing last week at a record high. Tech stocks stocks climbed 1.1% to lead gains as almost all sectors and major bourses nudged into positive territory.
The Federal Open Market Committee will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Fed is expected to leave monetary policy unchanged and again downplay talk of tapering down its stimulus program. However, markets will be watching for hints as to whether the central bank is starting to worry that the current spike in inflation may not be transitory.
Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed on Monday with markets in mainland China, Hong Kong and Australia closed for public holidays.
Stateside, U.S. stock futures were little changed in early premarket trade after the S&P 500 closed out last week at a record high.
Back in Europe, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to announce an extension to Covid-19 restrictions later on Monday, as the country battles a rise in cases of the delta variant first discovered in India.
Bitcoin rallied on Monday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested the electric vehicle maker may once again accept transactions in the cryptocurrency in future. Bitcoin was trading at $39,597 on Monday morning in Europe.
On the data front, euro zone industrial production figures for April are expected at 10 a.m. London time.
There was little by way of individual share price movement in early trade, with Swiss valve manufacturer VAT Group gaining 3.5% to lead the Stoxx 600 while Philips fell 4% after recalling some of its ventilator machines in the U.S.
