Europe: Stocks advance at open

[LONDON] Europe's main stock markets climbed at the start of trade on Tuesday, as dealers shrugged off Omicron-driven losses in Asia and looked ahead to crucial interest rate decisions later this week.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index rose 0.7 per cent to 7,280.60 points following upbeat UK labour market data.

In the eurozone, the Paris CAC 40 index added 0.7 per cent to 6,987.92 points, and Frankfurt's DAX index rose 0.4 per cent to 15,689.64.

"Investors should expect stock markets to be volatile in remaining days of the week as central banks of massive economies like the United States, Europe, and England are expected to communicate their monetary policies," said AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam.

Policymakers are battling soaring inflation that has largely been fuelled by runaway energy costs.

At the same time, however, many investors fear that the Omicron variant could throw the global recovery into jeopardy.

The US Federal Reserve is scheduled to announce its latest interest-rate decision on Wednesday, followed by the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England on Thursday.

AFP