LONDON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Monday,with sentiment buoyed by increased expectations the EuropeanCentral Bank will strike an equities-friendly dovish tone at apolicy meeting this week.
That follows a surprise drop in euro zone inflation to 0.7percent in the year to October, well below the ECB's target ofjust under 2 percent. Both UBS and RBS expect a rate cut atThursday's meeting.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was 0.4percent higher at 1,295.06 points to trade near last-week's5-year high. The index is up about 14 percent so far this year.
Europe's largest airline, Ryanair, fell 9 percentafter saying its annual profit was set to fall for the firsttime in five years as intense competition pushes average faresdown by around 10 percent over the winter months.
Easyjet fell 5 percent.
According to Thomson Reuters StarMine, more than half of theSTOXX Europe 600 companies have reported results sofar, of which 47 percent have met or beaten expectations,against 58 percent in the full second quarter and 52 percent inthe January-March period.
HSBC Holdings (HSBA)