On Monday, European stocks experienced modest gains following the weaker-than-expected April US jobs report that came out on Friday, which strengthened the argument for rate cuts by the third quarter. In Europe, media sources report that Philip Lane, the European Central Bank Chief Economist, stated that inflation is reverting back to the target at an appropriate pace, strengthening the argument for a rate cut in June.
Philip Lane is a member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board, along with President Christine Lagarde and Vice-President Luis de Guindos. In terms of economic releases, the Eurozone's PMI services index for April was finalized at 53.3, which is a significant improvement from March's 51.5.
Furthermore, the Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence increased from -5.9 to -3.6 in May, exceeding the predicted score of -4.8 and marking its seventh consecutive increase. After gaining a half percent on Friday, the pan-European STOXX 600 increased by 0.3 percent to 507.14.
The German DAX and France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.4 and 0.3 percent respectively, while UK stocks were closed due to a bank holiday. Regarding corporate developments, Dutch postal company PostNL NV experienced a drop of 4 percent due to reporting a wider-than-expected loss for the first quarter.
In contrast, Boliden AB, a Swedish mining firm, rose more than two percent after announcing it reached an agreement with workers' unions and local management to reopen the Tara mine on a more financially sustainable basis.
Spanish defense and technology company Indra saw an 8 percent jump after reporting a 40 percent rise in net profit for the first quarter. Despite receiving four distinct bailout offers, the French IT company Atos saw a drop of 3.5 percent in value.
Energy stocks went up, with TotalEnergies climbing over 1 percent fueled by ascending oil prices due to rising tensions in Gaza and Saudi Arabia's decision to increase June crude prices for most regions. On the flip side, Eutelsat, the satellite operator, saw a 1.4 percent decline after confirming it is considering options for its ground station network.