By Anisha Sircar

(Reuters.) European shares rose on Monday due to economic sectors that are economically sensitive ahead of a wave central bank policy decisions, which could possibly include an early end of U.S. stimulative measures.

Following three consecutive sessions of losses, the pan-European benchmark was 0.7% higher. After Friday’s in-line U.S. Inflation data, the global mood was generally positive.

Investors are focused on the monetary policies expected to be made by the European Central Bank, U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of England this week.

According to a Reuters poll the ECB plans to halve how much assets it purchases each month starting April. The poll found that a relief from inflation in high euro zones by late 2022 is likely to mean a rate increase is many years away.

Willem Sels from HSBC’s global chief investment officer said that Omicron will make it a quiet week. He also stated that Omicron has made it more likely for the ECB to continue its pandemic purchase programme (PEPP), due to the emergence and success of the new version.

Markets are currently assuming vaccines will be effective… Looking ahead, 2022 offers a strong growth outlook. We predict that the eurozone will grow by 4% in 2022, well above its historical average and with plenty of liquidity.

Recently, there have been some selling of the market due to concerns over the Omicron variant’s fast spread and the surging inflation. This has kept the STOXX 600 at a mere 3% from its peak in November.

After China, the world’s top consumer, pledged that it would focus on economic stability to keep its growth in a manageable range for next year and ensure that miners received the greatest boost of 1.9%, [MET/L]

The tech stocks saw the biggest gains, rising 1.5% following UBS’s upgrade of software giant SAP from neutral to “buy”. This pushed the stock up by 3.1%.

Vifor Pharma rose 14.5% following the announcement by CSL, an Australian biopharma company (OTC:), that it is in negotiations to acquire Swiss drugmaker Swiss Drugmaker. The deal was reported to have a value of about $7.2Billion.

UniCredit shares rose 1.7% following the announcement by the lender that it wanted to expand its domestic footprint. It could also consider tie-ups with other countries, however the bank has not expressed an interest in Generali (MI) or Mediobanca (OTC).

Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro rose 4.6% following raising its cost-cutting targets. The company also announced plans to increase the dividend it will pay for 2021 after a rise in earnings.