Euro zone consumers raise inflation expectations
Bayer slides after weak outlook
BoE set to hike rates later

May 11 Reuters European shares rose on Thursday led by the gains in media and travel stocks, as signs of easing U.S. inflation boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve might soon pause its aggressive interest rate hikes.

The panEuropean STOXX 600 index climbed 0.4 after two consecutive sessions of losses.

The techheavy Nasdaq touched a more than eightmonth high on Wednesday, boosted by a slightly lowerthanexpected increase in April inflation that spurred hopes of the Fed pausing its ratehike cycle in June.

While inflation is trending in the right direction, we still see potential for disappointment among equity investors on the pace of Fed easing in the remainder of this year, Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, wrote in a note.

The STOXX 600 has been rangebound in the recent weeks, as investors weigh the outlook for U.S. and European monetary policies as well as potential for a U.S. recession in the wake of aggressive rate hikes and the recent banking turmoil.

Euro zone consumers raised their inflation expectations in March, even as the rate of price growth fell and the European Central Bank ECB kept raising interest rates, an ECB survey showed.

The ECB is expected to keep hiking interest rates. ECB Governing Council member Joachim Nagel told Bloomberg TV in an interview that there39;s nothing off the table when asked…