Europe open: Shares up as investors eye trade talks progress

(Sharecast News) - European shares made a positive start to the week as investors studied retail sales figures from Germany and UK GDP data along with progress on trade talks with the US.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.19% at 544 in early deals, while Germany's DAX gained 0.29%.

Retail sales in Germany fell at the sharpest rate in more than two and a half years in May, according to data from the Federal Statistical Office.

Retail sales were down 1.6% last month, following a 0.6% decline in April, Destatis reported. The consensus forecast was pointing to growth of 0.5%. This was the steepest rate of a decline since October 2022.

Meanwhile, the British economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter, but households saved less amid the cost-of-living crisis, with rent, food and fuel taking larger chunks of earnings, according to final official figures which were unchanged from preliminary estimates.

In China, manufacturing activity contracted for a third consecutive month in June, an official survey revealed on Monday, despite government stimulus measures helping to shore up the industrial sector.

The official purchasing managers' index improved slightly to 49.7 in June from 49.5 in May but stayed below the 50-benchmark separating expansion from contraction, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

''Exuberance is set to continue at the start of the week, as more trade deal scores are on the doors and geopolitical tensions have eased off. Positivity has been washing through Wall Street, with stocks looking set to book fresh record levels," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

"It comes after the S&P 500 reached a fresh milestone on Friday. Investors have shaken off tariff fears, with the deepest threats from Trump failing to materialise."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com