European shares muted ahead of Fed meeting, Euro inflation data
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BP gains after Q2 profit beat
St James Place soars on cost-cutting plans
Euro zone prelim GDP due at 0900 GMT
Updated at 0830 GMT
By Pranav Kashyap
July 30 (Reuters) -European shares were muted onTuesday as investors exercised caution aheadof the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meetingand Euro zone inflation data, but gainsin technology and oil stocks keep the benchmark afloat.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX was up 0.1% at 512.44 points by 0830 GMT.
The technology sector .SX8P rose 0.1% ahead ofearnings reports from tech giant Microsoft MSFT.O and chipmaker AMD AMD.O later on Tuesday.
Globally, techshares are underpressure after disappointing resultsfrom Tesla TSLA.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O last week.
"Strong results may not spark the same enthusiasm than in the previous quarters if companies don'tconfirm AI'spositive impact on their revenues," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst atSwissquote Bank.
Among other major events, the Fed is set to begin itstwo-day policy meeting later in the day, with investors anticipatinga rate cut as early as September.
"The Fed decision will certainly trigger no fireworks as Chair Jerome Powell will likely hint at an upcoming September rate cut," Ozkardeskaya added.
Eurozone preliminary GDP and consumer confidence data are also due later on Tuesday, along with a slew of inflation readings.Data from Germany showed that the economy unexpectedly shrank by 0.1% in the second quarter compared to forecasts of a 0.1% increase.
The German benchmark DAX .GDAXI ticked slightly lower to 0.2% after the data.
Among individual stocks, spirits maker Diageo DGE.L was the biggest weight on the STOXX 600index, falling 10% after it reported a 4.8% decline in annual profit, fallingshort of analyst expectations.
The stock dragged the food and beverages sector .SX3P down 1.2%.
Basic resources .SXPP fell 1.4% as base metals prices slipped due to slowing global growth momentum and risk-off sentiment, with aluminium and zinc hitting three-month lows. MET/L
On the flip side, BP BP.L gained 2.1% after the oil giant reported beat market expectations, while increasing its dividend and extending its share repurchasing programme. The company's update boosted the oil sector .SXEP by 0.7%.
Standard Chartered STAN.L jumped 5.7% after the bank announced its largest share buyback of $1.5 billion and raised its annual earnings forecast.
St James's Place SJP.L soared 20.6% as the British wealth manager said it plans to cut tens of millions of pounds of costs.
Reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema
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