BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were flat to slightly
higher on Monday after falling sharply last week on concerns that a new
government in France may worsen the country's fiscal situation and threaten the
stability of the euro zone.

French government bonds won some respite after Marine Le Pen, the leader of the
French far-right, said she would co-operate with President Emmanuel Macron if
she wins the snap parliamentary election that begins later this month.

Also, European Central Bank policymakers reportedly said they had no plans to
launch emergency purchases of French bonds to stabilize the market.

The pan European STOXX 600 was marginally lower at 510.99 after registering its
worst weekly percentage fall so far this year.

The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both edged up 0.2 percent while the U.K.'s
FTSE 100 was little changed with a positive bias ahead of a key U.K. inflation
reading and the latest policy announcement from the Bank of England, due later
this week.

The euro held around more than one-month lows amid France's political turmoil.
Treasury yields ticked higher as investors pondered the timeline of
interest-rate cuts.

In corporate news, Dutch insurer ING rose more than 2 percent after it forecast
total income growth of between 4 percent and 5 percent per year during
2024-2027.

Denmark's Topdanmark soared 21 percent as Finnish insurer Sampo agreed to buy
its rival for 33 billion Danish crowns ($4.73 billion) in an all-share deal.

Carl Zeiss Meditec AG plunged 9 percent. The German firm announced a reduction
in its revenues forecast for the fiscal 2023-24 and a 3 percent decline in
adjusted revenue for the first eight months of the fiscal 2023-2024 compared to
the prior year.

Ascential shares jumped 2 percent in London. The company focused on exhibitions,
festivals, and information services, confirmed that full-year trading is in line
with its expectations.

China-linked Hermes, LVMH and Kering were moving lower in Paris after a slew of
Chinese economic data underlined the country's bumpy recovery and the People's
Bank of China (PBOC) left a key policy rate unchanged, disappointing some who
had expected a rate cut following surprisingly soft bank lending data.

In economic releases, survey data from property market website Rightmove showed
asking prices for British homes coming to the market were flat this month.

Separately, the Make UK Q2 Manufacturing Outlook Survey revealed that output and
orders at the U.K.'s manufacturers have picked up in Q2 ahead of the forthcoming
election.



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