EUROPEAN STOCKS CLOSE HIGHER AFTER CHOPPY SESSION

FRANKFURT, June 1 (Bernama-dpa-AFX) -- European stocks closed higher on Friday with investors digesting eurozone inflation data, and a report on US personal income and spending, and looking ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement next week, reported dpa-AFX.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.32 per cent. The UK's FTSE 100 ended higher by 0.54 per cent, France's CAC 40 ended up 0.18 per cent and Germany's DAX edged up 0.01 per cent, while Switzerland's SMI surged 1.1 per cent.

Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Sweden ended on a firm note. Finland edged up marginally.

Greece, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and Turkey closed weak.

On the economic front, eurozone headline and core inflation accelerated in May largely driven by higher services costs ahead of the European Central Bank's governing council meeting next week, when it is widely expected to cut interest rates. The harmonized index of consumer prices posted a faster-than-expected increase of 2.6 per cent, following the 2.4 per cent rise in April, flash data from Eurostat showed.

France's consumer price inflation rose in May. The consumer price index climbed 2.2 per cent year-over-year in May, the same rate of increase as in the previous month, data from INSEE showed. Meanwhile, economists had forecast inflation to rise to 2.4 per cent.

France's economy expanded as estimated in the first quarter, growing 0.2 per cent from the fourth quarter of the previous year, data from INSEE showed. The fourth quarter growth was revised up to 0.3 per cent from 0.1 per cent.

On a calendar and seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales in Germany slumped 1.2 per cent from March, when they grew an upwardly revised 2.6%, preliminary data from the statistical office Destatis showed. 

--BERNAMA-dpa-AFX