European shares edge up as basic resources rally offsets investor caution

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window) March 18 (Reuters) -

European shares opened marginally higher on Monday, led by gains in basic resources, although investor caution ahead of euro zone inflation data limited the rise. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1%, as of 0816 GMT.

Basic resources led sectoral gains with a 0.7% jump after top metal consumer China's industrial output and retail sales beat forecasts. On the data front, investors will look out for euro zone final inflation data for the month February and the region's total trade balance for January, due later in the day.

Investors will also await the Federal Reserve and Bank of England's policy meetings, due later this week, for more clues on the monetary policy easing cycle. In corporate updates, Signify climbed 5.2% after Barclays upgraded the stock and hiked its price target on the lighting solutions firm.

Logitech shares dropped 6.5% following announcement that the computer equipment maker's chief financial officer Charles Boynton will leave the company in May.

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