European stocks rose on Tuesday, on course for their seventh straight month of gains, as hopes for more policy support overshadowed economic risks from a surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the Delta variant globally.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.1 percent in early trading with Asian stocks reversing earlier losses as fresh signs of a slowdown in China's economy spurred hopes of more stimulus.
Germany's blue-chip DAX outperformed its regional peers with a 0.4 percent rise, and despite the FTSE 100 dipping slightly by 0.1 percent after a long weekend in Britain the blue-chip index is on course for its best month since April. .
U.S. stock futures rose slightly in overnight trading as the S&P looks to wrap up its seventh straight month of gains at a record high.
Euro zone inflation surged to a 10-year-high in August with further rises still likely to come, challenging the European Central Bank's benign view on price growth and its commitment to look past what it deems a transient increase.
Consumer prices in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose by 3 percent this month, after increasing by 2.2 percent in July, far above expectations for 2.7 percent and moving well clear of the ECB's 2 percent target.
