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European stocks rise ahead of the crucial French vote on no-confidence

The European stock market edged up on Monday, a positive start to a week of events that will be dominated by the political uncertainty in France. It is almost certain that France will begin looking for a fifth Prime Minister in three years.

Francois Bayrou, the French prime minister, is likely to lose a no-confidence vote on Monday. This comes at a time that Europe's second largest economy is struggling to control its debt. France will also face its first credit rating review later this week.

As of 0708 GMT the pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.33%, at 551 points. The CAC 40 in France rose 0.4%.

French stocks have outperformed the STOXX Index this year despite the fact that the day just began with gains. This is due to rising bond yields, which are at multi-year highs, on the back of concerns about debt-fueled fiscal spending.

Oil and gas stocks were the sector leaders with a rise of 1.2%, following a crude oil price increase of 1.8%. The threat of further sanctions against Russian crude following an overnight strike in Ukraine overshadowed OPEC+’s planned production increase.

Goldman Sachs, for example, lowered its rating of RyanAir and sent shares down by 2%. Marks and Spencer rose 2.2% when brokerage Citi upgraded the retailer's rating to "buy" (from "neutral")

ASML shares, listed in the Netherlands, rose 0.7% after traders responded to a report stating that ASML is expected to become the biggest shareholder of French artificial-intelligence startup Mistral AI.

(source: Reuters)