European shares pause near record high with eyes on U.S. inflation data

European shares hovered just below all-time highs on Tuesday as strong export data from China reinforced optimism around a swift global economic recovery, while investor attention turned to key U.S. inflation data due later in the day.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.1% by 0703 GMT after hitting a record high last week.

The export-heavy German stock index rose 0.2% as data showed China’s exports grew at a robust pace in March and import growth surged to its highest in four years.

Global stock markets have come under pressure since March from rising U.S. bond yields, which have hit 14-month highs on expectations that a raft of fiscal and monetary stimulus, coupled with a faster-than-expected economic rebound, would lead to a jump in inflation. [US/]

Focus on Tuesday will be on U.S. consumer price data, due to be published at 1230 GMT. The consumer price index is expected to have risen 0.5% in March following a 0.4% gain in the previous month.

Swedish IT solutions provider Dustin jumped 8.4% after it said it would buy Centralpoint, a seller of hardware and software in the Benelux region, for 425 million euros ($505.6 million).