The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) closed 1.5% higher, extending gains to the fourth straight day. U.S. consumer prices advanced 3.0% in June - their smallest year-on-year increase since March 2021 - after 4% growth in May. Gains in the lenders lifted UK's FTSE 100 index (.FTSE) by 1.8%, leading gains among European peers and pushing the European banks index (.SX7P) up 1.9%. European shares have performed better than UK stocks so far this year, amid economic resilience and signs of cooling inflation in the euro zone, with focus now shifting to the upcoming earnings season. Data showed Spanish national consumer prices rose 1.9% in the 12 months through June, down from a 3.2% rise in the period through May.

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Persons: Daniel Casali, Evelyn, Jefferies, Vincent Chaigneau, Matteo Allievi, Shreyashi Sanyal, Sohini Goswami, Nick Zieminski Organizations: U.S, Jefferies, Federal, Evelyn Partners, Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, Bank of England, Miners, ASM International, Infineon, Generali Investments, Air France, KLM, Deutsche Bank, Thales, Cobham Aerospace Communications, Spanish, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Gdansk, Amruta, Bangalore