European equities rise on hopes of inflation slowdown

Traders are keenly awaiting the release of US consumer price data on Tuesday. ©AFP

London (AFP) - European stock markets rose Monday as investors set aside Asian losses and forecast easing inflation in Britain and the United States, dealers said.

"The expectation is inflation will have eased slightly when the US and UK report tomorrow and Wednesday respectively," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Europe also climbed on news that the eurozone economy was forecast to narrowly avoid recession this winter.

The 20-nation area's economy is now expected to expand by 0.9 percent instead of 0.3 percent, as "favourable developments" helped it weather fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union's executive arm said.

Inflation in the eurozone is also expected to slow more than previously forecast after the war sent oil and gas prices soaring last year.

The Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the US Federal Reserve ramped up interest rates last year in efforts to tame sky-high inflation.

In Asia on Monday, equities fell on growing expectations that US interest rates will go much higher and for longer than previously thought.

While US inflation has been trending down for several months, data showing the jobs market remained very tight in January indicated the world's top economy was still robust.

The employment reading led a number of Federal Reserve officials to insist there was still plenty of work to do before they were happy they had prices under control.

"These comments were particularly noteworthy given that they explicitly pushed back against the narrative of rate cuts by year end, which markets had started to assume would be coming fairly soon," said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.

Oil prices meanwhile dipped Monday, having jumped more than two percent Friday in reaction to Russia's decision to slash output.

The move came after a Western price cap that was imposed on exports in retaliation for Moscow's war on Ukraine.