European Shares Rise With Focus on Ukraine

European shares posted cautious gains on Wednesday, buoyed by hopes of easing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, although the rise of Britain’s blue-chip index remained limited by accelerating inflation.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2 percent by 0810 GMT, after rising 1.4 percent in the previous session, when Russia indicated it was withdrawing some of its forces from near the Ukraine border, apparently in a de-escalation.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index was stable after data revealed that consumer prices rose in January at the fastest annual pace in nearly 30 years, reinforcing expectations that the Bank of England will raise interest rates for a third consecutive meeting.

The tourism and leisure sector was the highest gainer in Europe, rising 1.1 percent.

As for individual shares, Swedish Tobacco’s Match shares rose 4.4 percent after the group proposed an increase in its annual dividend, while French industrial gases Air Liquide’s shares rose 2.9 percent after the company expected to achieve a larger profit in 2022.

Ericsson’s stock plunged 7.1% after it announced that an internal investigation in 2019 revealed serious violations of the company’s business rules in Iraq.