European markets mixed amid anticipation of ECB rate decision

European stocks began trading at the beginning of the week on a higher note, Monday, tracking the impact of their Asian counterparts, with the exception of the London market, while investors awaited an important decision on interest rates from the European Central Bank later in the week.

The STOXX 600 index closed with gains of about 0.33%, while the German DAX index rose by about 0.61%, and the French CAC index gained by about 0.06%, according to “Reuters.”

Sentiment improved as factory activity in China grew at the fastest pace in nearly two years in May, and stable inflation data in the United States, issued on Friday, continued to raise hopes that the US Federal Reserve would cut interest rates this year.

All eyes will now be on the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision scheduled for Thursday.

Among the individual losses, the shares of the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline fell 9.7% after a judge in the US state of Delaware allowed more than 70,000 lawsuits over the drug Zantac to proceed.