European stocks notched modest gains to open the second quarter of equity trading even as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of an active week for economic and political events in both Europe and the United States.
The region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 Index, the region’s broadest measure of share price performance, was marked 0.2% higher at 381.92 points each in the opening 45 minutes of trading, with gains begin held down by falling bank and mining sector shares.
Britain’s FTSE 100 was marked 15.6 points, or 0.2% lower at the session began, with basic resource shares pinning down the benchmark and investors keeping a keen eye on the pounds, which has been holding at multi-week highs against the U.S. dollar. In Germany, the DAX performance index added 46 points, or 0.38%, while the CAC-40 was seen 6 points, or 0.12%, higher at 5119.3 points.