Europe open: Shares up as investors mull Powell comments on rate cuts

European shares opened higher on Monday as investors digested comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell about the pace of rate cuts this year.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.20% in early deals at 485 with all major Continental bourses also higher.

In an interview overnight, Powell warned against moving too soon on interest rates before inflation was fully tamed.

"The danger of moving too soon is that the job’s not quite done, and that the really good readings we’ve had for the last six months somehow turn out not to be a true indicator of where inflation’s heading," he said.

"We don’t think that’s the case. But the prudent thing to do is to, is to just give it some time and see that the data continue to confirm that inflation is moving down to 2% in a sustainable way."

In equity news, Vodafone shares fell after reporting weaker service revenues in Germany and Italy.

Delivery Hero soared after posting better-than-expected results.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com