BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks rose on Monday as Italy's fractious coalition partners geared up for a showdown to avoid the collapse of the government following a series of clashes.
Meanwhile, as hopes fade for aggressive Fed rate cuts in July, investors now await the outcome of tomorrow's U.K. leadership election and Thursday's ECB meeting for further direction.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.1 percent at 387.68 after rising 0.1 percent on Friday.
The German DAX and France's CAC 40 index were moving up around 0.2 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was gaining 0.4 percent.
Shares of Philips Electronics NV climbed 4.5 percent in Amsterdam after the Dutch consumer electronics giant reported significantly higher profit in its second quarter, reflecting narrower loss from discontinued operations and higher sales.
Swiss private bank Julius Baer rallied 3 percent. After reporting a drop in first-half profit, the bank said that client activity and asset valuations have recovered substantially compared to the second half of 2018.
Casino Group shares rose half a percent after the French retailer agreed to sell its subsidiary Vindémia to GBH for an enterprise value of 219 million euros.
Oil major Royal Dutch Shell rose over 1 percent, BP Plc rallied 1.7 percent and Tullow Oil jumped 2.3 percent as oil prices rose over 2 percent on worries that Iran's seizure of a British tanker last week may lead to supply disruptions in the energy-rich Gulf.
Metro Bank shares advanced 4.7 percent. The troubled high street lender has confirmed media reports that it is in talks 'regarding the potential sale of a loan portfolio'.
Ted Baker soared 12.5 percent on a report that its founder Ray Kelvin could back a private equity buyout of the retailer, months after he resigned.
On a light day on the economic front, survey data from IHS Markit showed that British households' expectations towards future finances remained positive in July.
The headline household finance index rose for the second straight month in July, to 44.3 from 43.9 in June. The score signaled the weakest level of pessimism among households towards their finances since January.
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