Europe open: Shares up despite rate hike fears after hot US data

European shares opened higher on Monday, despite sell-offs in the US on Friday after US inflation came in higher than forecast, fuelling fears of further interest rate hikes, and a weak session in Asia.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 was up 0.81% at 0830 GMT with all major bourses higher. Investors will be eyeing eurozone inflation data and European Central Bank policy minutes, which are both due out on Thursday.

Wall Street was hit last Friday when the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, surged by 0.6% in January a 0.2% rise the previous month.

In the UK eyes were on talks between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the vexed question of the Northern Ireland portion of the Brexit deal which has sent the hard-right win of the Ruling Conservative Party into apoplexy.

Hopes were high in Westminster that some sort of agreement can be struck on the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, which keeps the province inside the European Union’s single market via a nominal border in the Irish Sea.

In equity news shares in distribution group Bunzl gained after a rise in full-year profits on the back of price rises.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals tanked 14% after reporting weaker first-half profits.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com