Europe open: Stoxx jumps as BAE results lift defence sector

(Sharecast News) - European shares opened higher on Wednesday as investors eyed informal talks between Iran and the US and a fall in UK inflation. The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index rose 0.53% to 624 at 0830 GMT with major bourses higher. The UK's FTSE 100 jumped to a new intra-day high as inflation fell to 3% from 3.4%, in line with expectations and paving the way for further interest rate cuts.

"Core inflation, which excludes the often-volatile prices of food, energy and alcohol also fell on the previous month, as did services inflation, which has been sticky on the last year," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Emma Wall.

"These measures moving in tandem suggests that the outlook from here will be lower inflation, and the Bank of England expects inflation to fall to the target of 2% this year. The welcome news comes following yesterday's weaker jobs data, meaning a March rate cut now looks certain."

In equity news, shares in Bayer fell as the German life sciences group's Monsanto unit on Tuesday proposed paying $7.25bn to settle lawsuits claiming that its weed killer Roundup was causing cancer.

Weapons maker BAE Systems gained after reporting a better-than-expected rise in annual profits as it cashed in on higher defence spending amid rising geopolitical tensions.

The results boosted sector peers Thales, Qinetiq, Dassault and Renk.

Chemicals maker IMCD slumped after annual revenue missed estimates, while Azelis Group was also in the wars after JP Morgan cut the Belgian chemicals group to neutral from overweight.

Carrefour declined after the French retailer reported lower operating profit while shares in Straumann were higher after the Swiss dental implant maker forecast 2026 sales growth in the high single-digit percentage range.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com