European shares rise ahead of crucial French no-confidence vote

European shares edged higher on Monday in a buoyant start to an event-filled week that is likely to be dominated by political uncertainty in France, which is all but certain to start looking for its fifth prime minister in three years.

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is expected to lose a vote of no-confidence vote later on Monday, at a time when the continent's second-largest economy struggles to rein in its debt. France also faces its first of many credit ratings reviews later this week.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.33% at 551 points, as of 0708 GMT, with France's CAC 40 index rising 0.4%.

Although the day has just started with gains, French equities have underperformed the STOXX index so far this year, pressured by rising longer-dated bond yields hitting multi-year highs on concerns over debt-fuelled fiscal spending.

Oil and gas stocks led sector gains with a 1.2% rise, tracking a 1.8% climb in crude oil prices. The prospect of additional sanctions on Russian crude after an overnight strike in Ukraine outweighed OPEC+'s planned output hike.

Among others, Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on RyanAir, sending shares of the Irish airlines down 2%, while Marks and Spencer added 2.2% after brokerage Citi upgraded its rating on the retailer to "buy" from "neutral".

Shares of Dutch-listed ASML climbed 0.7% as traders reacted to a Reuters report that the company is set to become the largest shareholder of French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI.