European Shares Gain On Solid Data, Rate Cut Hopes

European stocks eked out modest gains on Monday as weaker-than-expected April U.S. jobs report released on Friday boosted the case for rate cuts by the third quarter.

Closer home, media reports quoted European Central Bank Chief Economist Philip Lane as saying that inflation is returning to the target in a timely manner and hence there is a stronger case for June rate cut.

He is one of the six members of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, along with President Christine Lagarde and Vice President Luis de Guindos.

In economic releases, Eurozone's PMI services index was finalized at 53.3 in April, marking a notable improvement from March's 51.5.

The Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence rose from -5.9 to -3.6 in May, beating expectations for a score of -4.8 and marking the seventh consecutive increase.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent to 507.14 after gaining half a percent on Friday.

The German DAX edged up 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 added 0.3 percent while U.K. equities were closed for a bank holiday.

In corporate news, Dutch postal firm PostNL NV lost 4 percent after reporting a wider-than-expected first-quarter loss.

Boliden AB gained more than 2 percent in Stockholm after the Swedish mining firm announced that it has reached an agreement between worker´s unions and local management to reopen the mine at Tara on a more financially sustainable basis.

Spanish defense and technology firm Indra soared 8 percent after its first-quarter net profit rose 40 percent.

Atos tumbled 3.5 percent after announcing that it has received four distinct offers to help bail out the French debt-laden IT company.

Energy stocks climbed, with TotalEnergies rising over 1 percent as oil prices climbed amid rising tensions in Gaza and after Saudi Arabia hiked June crude prices for most regions.

Eutelsat dropped 1.4 percent. The satellite operator confirmed that it is analysing options for its ground station network.

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