Europe open: Stocks edge higher in quiet trade; German utilities rally

European stocks edged higher at the start of what is expected to be a fairly quiet session, with US markets closed for Columbus Day and no major data releases due.

At 0850 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.3%, Germany’s DAX was 0.7% higher and France’s CAC 40 was 0.1% firmer.

“Coming off the back of one of the strongest weeks for equity markets this year, European stocks look set for a modest start to the week, as investors look towards a pickup in the number of US companies reporting their latest numbers for the recent quarter, as well as a host of CPI inflation numbers in the coming days, from the UK, China, US and Europe,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

“Last week’s Fed minutes came across as more dovish than had been expected given how close last month’s decision to keep rates on hold was supposed to have been. Given that since then we’ve seen much weaker data in the weeks since that meeting, it stands to reason that Fed policymakers are much less likely to be keen to tighten policy in the immediate future, irrespective of what they might say publicly, in terms of keeping a 2015 rate rise on the table. The minutes also highlighted concerns about the weakening outlook from the declines in commodity prices and a slowdown in China.

On the corporate front, Glencore shares rose after the commodities trader said it has begun the process to sell two of its copper mines in Australia and Chile.

Shares in RWE and E.ON surged after the German economy ministry said the utility companies have enough funds to pay for the shutdown and clean-up of nuclear power plants as decommissioning moves a step closer.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles pushed higher after launching its initial public offering of Ferrari, in which it owns 90% of the shared issued and outstanding share capital.

Recruitment agency Hays was on the front foot after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’, saying the drop in the share price is overdone despite the slower growth outlook.

London-listed Brewer SABMiller slipped into the red. Over the weekend, press reports suggested that Anheuser-Busch InBev is likely to increase its offer the company to around £43-44 a share before the deadline on Wednesday.