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March 27 (Reuters) - European stocks opened flat on

Wednesday after closing at record high in the previous session,

as investors awaited more economic data due this week, while H&M

shares jumped on upbeat quarterly results.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was steady at 511.07, as

of 0816 GMT, hovering near a record high hit on Tuesday.

Oil and gas shares were the biggest drag on the

index, down 0.7% fall, mirroring weak oil prices on rising U.S.

crude inventories.

Oil giants Shell and BP were down 0.8% and

1%, respectively.

Swedish software firm Fortnox also weighed on the

index, dropping 9.6%.

Outweighing the losses, H&M topped gains, with a

12% jump, after the world's second-largest listed fashion

retailer beat its first-quarter operating profit estimates.

Recent dovish signals from major central banks and a rally

in technology stocks buoyed by the artificial intelligence

fervour spurred STOXX 600 to record highs. It is eyeing a second

straight quarterly gain, up 6.7% so far.

Market focus will now shift to the euro-zone consumer and

economic sentiment data for March later in the day, before the

U.S. personal expenditure consumption data on Friday, for

further cues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate trajectory.

DS Smith ( DITHF ) jumped 7.3% after the British paper and

packaging firm said it was in talks with International Paper ( IP )

for an all-stock offer deal valued at 5.72 billion pounds

($7.22 billion).

($1 = 0.7925 pounds)