NEW YORK - Global markets rose on Monday at the start of a busy week that includes the release of key US inflation data and a European Central Bank decision on interest rates.
Wall Street pushed higher, with traders already focused on Wednesday's consumer price index (CPI) report, which could determine the Federal Reserve's next move on interest rates.
"Today's generally quiet session means that attention is focusing squarely on the US CPI data and ECB decision due this week," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
"With the risk that both could deliver nasty surprises, risk appetite has been limited," he added.
Investors have worried that the Fed's rate-hike campaign to combat high inflation could tip the world's biggest economy into a severe recession.
But US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday she was optimistic that the economy was on course for a soft landing.
"I am feeling very good about that prediction," she said. "I think you'd have to say we're on a path that looks exactly like that."
She added: "Every measure of inflation is on the road down."
The Paris and Frankfurt stock exchanges closed higher even though the European Commission cut its 2023 growth outlook for the eurozone, from 1.1 percent to 0.8 percent.
The data will give the ECB more food for thought when it meets Thursday to decide whether to continue or pause its own rate hikes.
The commission said the higher borrowing costs had an impact on the eurozone economy.
"The new forecasts won't come as a major surprise and may even prove overly optimistic over time but they do come days ahead of the next ECB meeting and could tempt some policymakers into voting to pause the tightening cycle," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at the OANDA trading platform.
"Weaker economic readings will probably drive a lively debate and they obviously won't suggest, if they do hike, that it's job done," he added.
Elsewhere, London also rose while Tokyo and Hong Kong finished lower.
After a slow start, Asian traders turned more positive through the day and tracked last week's gains on Wall Street, with data showing a pick-up in Chinese inflation lifting sentiment.