(Reuters) – European shares ticked up from one-week lows on Tuesday, as investors focussed on crucial central bank meetings this week, while keeping a wary eye on developments around the Omicron coronavirus variant.
The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.5% as of 0823 GMT, with miners, chemical companies and food & beverage stocks leading early gains.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to signal a faster pullback of asset purchases at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan will also meet to determine the course for their monetary policies into 2022.
European and Wall Street stocks took a hit on Monday after at least one person died in Britain after contracting the Omicron variant, the first publicly confirmed death globally from the rapidly spreading strain.
However, miners jumped 1.4% on strong aluminium prices, helping markets rebound. [MET/L]
ArcelorMittal advanced 4.0%, after the world’s largest steelmaker said it had entered into repurchase agreements with certain holders of its convertible senior notes for a $395 million buyback programme.
Vifor extended gains from Monday, surging 13.3%, after Australian biopharma giant CSL> said it would buy the Swiss drugmaker for $11.7 billion.
AutoStore Holdings dropped 13.4%, after British online supermarket group Ocado Group said it won a patent infringement lawsuit filed by the Norwegian robotics firm last year.
(Reporting by Anisha Sircar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
