European shares edged lower on Monday ahead of data expected to show euro zone inflation eased in July, likely supporting the view that the European Central Bank will hold interest rates in September.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) slipped 0.1 % by 0714 GMT but looked set for its second consecutive monthly gains.
Dragging the index down, Heineken (HEIN.AS) slid 4.8 % after the world's second-largest brewer by volume cut its 2023 profit growth forecast after an economic slowdown in Vietnam depressed first-half earnings by more than expected. Other spirits makers Diageo (DGE.L) and Anheuser-Busch Inbev (ABI.BR) fell more than a per cent each.
The flash reading of euro area inflation, due at 0900 GMT, is expected to show that price growth eased to 5.3 % in July from 5.5 % a year earlier.
The ECB raised rates for the ninth successive time last week but left the door open to a pause in September, even though core inflation seems to be stickier than previously thought. An index of euro zone banks (.SX7E) edged up 0.2 % after the European Banking Authority's (EBA) annual stress test results showed three out of 70 banks from the European Union failed to meet binding capital requirements.
European shares dip ahead of inflation data, Heineken drags
FILE PHOTO-The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Staff
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