Europe open: Stocks little changed ahead of busy week; Ryanair flies higher

European stocks were little changed in early trade as investors sifted through more corporate news ahead of rate announcements by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan later this week.

Rebecca O’Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor, said: “With the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve both meeting this week and GDP numbers from the US and the Eurozone due on Friday, the real action for markets is likely to come later this week as investors yet again hope that global central banks will continue to do whatever it takes to keep the equity market happy.”

At 0850 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2%, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were both 0.1% firmer.

At the same time, oil prices were a little weaker. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.3% at $44.07 a barrel while Brent crude was 0.3% lower at $45.56.

Over the weekend, finance chiefs at the G20 summit in China said the UK’s decision to leave the European Union has heightened risks for the global economy and called on the UK to remain a close partner of the EU. However, the G20 said it has the tools requited to deal with the potential fallout from Brexit.

On the corporate front, Ericsson rallied as the company’s chief executive Hans Vestberg stepped down after six and a half years.

Ryanair flew higher after posting a rise in first-quarter profit as traffic grew and the low-cost carrier maintained its guidance that full-year profit would increase by around 12%, although it warned of “significant risks” post Brexit.

Shopping centres group Hammerson was a just a touch higher after it said net rental income in the six months to 30 June improved 5.1% to £167.7m, or 2.1% on a like-for-like basis.

Deal news was in focus in London, with bookmarker William Hill surging after it received a merger offer from 888 and Rank Group.

Philips nudged lower after the Dutch healthcare firm reported second-quarter results broadly as expected.

This week will see rate announcements from the Federal Open Market Committee and the Bank of Japan on Wednesday and Friday, respectively.