(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 16 feb - European share prices opened slightly higher as risk appetite stabilized following a volatile week. Trading volumes are expected to be thin globally because Wall Street is closed for Presidents' Day and mainland Chinese markets are shut for the Lunar New Year.

Investors are focused on USmonetary policy outlook after last Friday's softer than expected US inflation data fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this year.

While the macroeconomic calendar is relatively light today, market participants are looking ahead to the release of the Fed meeting minutes on Wednesday for further clues on the consensus regarding potential easing.

In the eurozone, the focus turns to the latest industrial production figures, which are due later today, and the Eurogroup meeting for broader economic signals.

At 0809 GMT, London's FTSE 100 was up 0.15% at 10,461.50 points while in Frankfurt the DAX was 0.42% higher at 25,008.70 points and in Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.25% to 8,332.36 points. Milan's FTSE MIB gained 0.48% to 45,646.50 points while in Madrid the IBEX 35 was 0.87% higher at.

17,825.34 points.

(RADIOCOR) 16-02-26 09:15:31 (0143) 5 NNNN