European shares hover below record high, telecom stocks jump

Media and utilities fell the most among sectors, while telecoms gained 0.8%. Deutsche Telekom rose 2.5% after it struck a share-swap deal with Softbank Group to increase its stake in U.S. unit T-Mobile and sold its Dutch unit.

European stocks hovered below record highs on Tuesday as caution ahead of a European Central Bank meeting later this week offset gains in the telecoms sector following a Deutsche Telekom deal.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.1% by 0719 GMT, after coming just a point below its record high in the previous session. Media and utilities fell the most among sectors, while telecoms gained 0.8%.

Deutsche Telekom rose 2.5% after it struck a share-swap deal with Softbank Group to increase its stake in U.S. unit T-Mobile and sold its Dutch unit. Shares in Sweden's Tele2 rose 1%, while KPN gained almost 4%.

Germany's Allianz slipped 0.5% after Reuters reported that regulators have launched an investigation into the company after the demise of some of its U.S. investment funds last year.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)