European shares rise on banks, resource-linked stocks boost

Dec ‌17 (Reuters) - European shares climbed on Wednesday as gains ‍in financial ‌stocks helped stage a recovery from declines in the ⁠previous session, while investors ‌await fresh economic signals to guide market direction.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3% at 581.26 as of 0810 GMT.

Major ⁠regional bourses followed the positive trend, with the UK's FTSE 100 ​among the outperformers with a 0.8% rise.

British ‌consumer price inflation fell ⁠unexpectedly sharply in November, data showed, prompting investors to add to bets for an interest rate cut ​on Thursday.

Banks were the biggest boost to the market, up 0.9% and trading close to levels last seen in 2008.

Commodity-linked stocks also traded higher, with energy firms ​jumping ‍1.2%, tracking a ​rise in oil prices after the U.S. ordered a blockade on sanctioned oil vehicles in Venezuela.

Mining stocks rose 0.8% after silver prices hit a record high and bullion prices also inched up.

Several monetary policy decisions are on ⁠the radar this week, including those by the European Central Bank (ECB), Sweden's Riksbank, ​Bank of England, and Norway's Norges Banks.

Among individual stocks, London-based Bunzl fell 7% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after the business ‌supplies distributor forecast a slight year-on-year drop in its 2026 operating margin.

(Reporting by Ragini Mathur; Editing by Sonia Cheema)