- Ageas rises on acquisition agreement with China's Fosun Group
- Adidas gains on Morgan Stanley's double upgrade
- German manufacturers near pre-pandemic material availability, says Ifo
- STOXX 600 up 0.3%
April 15 (Reuters) - European shares inched up on Monday, with caution around Middle East tensions at the fore, while Temenos was on course for its best day in more than 15 years after saying Hindenburg Research's allegations were found to be incorrect.
The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.3% as of 0853 GMT, with the defence sector among top gainers, after Iran launched explosive drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend in retaliation for a suspected Israeli attack on its consulate in Syria on April 1.
Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said that while geopolitical news is set to drive the tone of the market this week, the fact that the United States has said that it would not support retaliation by Israel at this moment has calmed the market slightly.
Meanwhile, industrials and automobiles led sectoral gains after the Ifo economic institute said German manufacturers are no longer acutely affected by material shortages, with the supply situation almost back to how it was before the coronavirus pandemic.
Temenos jumped 19.8%, topping the STOXX, after the software firm said a "special committee" formed by its board found that accusations in a report by Hindenburg Research were incorrect and misleading.
Nearly halfway through April, the STOXX 600 is on course to mark its first month out of six in losses as uncertainty around the timing of interest rate cuts in the U.S. and the possible repercussions of geopolitical tensions dominated sentiment.
Adding to gains, policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said over the weekend the European Central Bank is increasingly confident that it is winning the fight against inflation, making an interest rate cut in June very likely.
Later in the day, investors will parse remarks from central banker Phillip R. Lane.
The earnings season is set to pick up steam with results from industry heavyweights LVMH, Noika, Ericsson and ASML due through the week.
Among others, Ageas <AGES.BR> climbed 3.2% as France's BNP Paribas said it had reached an agreement with China's Fosun Group to acquire its 9% stake in the Belgian insurer for around 730 million euros ($777.60 million).
Adidas rose 4.3% after brokerage Morgan Stanley double-upgraded the German sportswear maker to "overweight" from "underweight", while Julius Baer slid 5% as the Swiss wealth manager traded ex-dividend.
Shares of Prysmian SPA rose 5.2% after the Italian cable maker announced it would acquire Encore Wire for $290 per share in cash.
Logitech International fell 2.8% after Morgan Stanley cut the Swiss-American computer equipment maker to "underweight" from "equal weight".
($1 = 0.9388 euros)
Reporting by Ozan Ergenay and Johann M Cherian; Editing by Sohini Goswami
Source: Reuters