FTSE MIB up 1.06%; DAX up 1.04%; CAC 40 up 0.49% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 06 May - European shares closed higher as they extended Friday's gains. Trading volumes were low as the markets were closed in London for a public holiday.

Investor sentiment in the region was boosted by renewed bets that the Federal Reserve would slash rates rates sooner than thought this year, following a softer than expected US nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.

The report showed 175,000 jobs were added in April, below the 240,000 jobs expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

Last week the US central bank decided to hold interest rates steady at a range of 5.25% to 5.5% as widely expected amid sticky inflation. Fed chair Jerome Powell however downplayed the possibility of a rate hike as the central bank's next move.

Back in Europe, a S&P composite final purchasing managers' index for the eurozone showed that business activity in the bloc expanded at its fastest pace in almost a year.

In April, the eurozone's purchasing managers' index for the services sector edged up to 53.3 from 51.5 in March, reaching an 11-month high, according to data released by S&P Global and Hamburg Commercial Bank.

The composite output index, a weighted average of services PMI and manufacturing output, rose to 51.7 in April from 50.3 the previous month, also hitting an 11-month high.

Investor confidence in the eurozone improved to -3.6 in May from -5.9 the earlier month, rising for the seventh consecutive month, according to the German think tank Sentix.

Traders also digested data showing that China's services activity expansion slowed slightly amid rising costs, but growth in new orders accelerated and business sentiment improved, pointing to a continued resilience in the country's services sector.

The Frankfurt DAX added 1.04% at 18,180.95 points and the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.49% at 7,996.64 points, while in Milan the FTSE MIB gained 1.06% at 33,986.90 points, and in Madrid the IBEX 35 closed 0.60% higher at 10,919.65 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 06-05-24 18:00:20 (0557) 5 NNNN