STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOS

(Reuters) – European shares were lacklustre on Monday after a strong week driven by aggressive bets of interest rate cuts, while gains in energy stocks were offset by weak healthcare as German drugs-to-pesticides group Bayer slid to a 12-year low.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was little changed by 0810 GMT after jumping nearly 3% last week and on track to log its first monthly gain since August.

As investors started pricing in 100-basis-point rate cuts for 2024 with the first one seen as soon as April, European Central Bank officials shunned market optimism, flagging still-high inflation and a somewhat resilient economy.

Energy stocks led sectoral gains with a 0.7% advance, while healthcare shed 0.6% after Bayer lost 12% on aborting a large late-stage trial testing a new anti-clotting drug.

Germany’s DAX fell 0.1%.

Ashtead Group tanked 13.5% after the British equipment rental firm expects annual profit below expectations and a more than $2 billion depreciation charge for the year.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)