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* UK pay growth slows more than expected

* Carl Zeiss Meditec jumps on positive forecast

Dec 12 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Tuesday following benign UK wage data and ahead of a key U.S. inflation report later in the day, in a week packed with major central bank interest rate decisions.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2% as of 0920 GMT, holding its highest level since February 2022.

All eyes will now be on the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report at 1330 GMT, with the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting also kicking off during the day.

British wage growth slowed by the most in almost two years, but pay is probably still rising too fast for the Bank of England to relax its tough stance against cutting interest rates.

UK's benchmark index, however, gained 0.8% to hit a near two-month high, outperforming its regional peers.

Policy decisions from the European Central Bank and Bank of England on Thursday are also on the watch list as investors ramp up bets of a peak in policy tightening and eventual rate cuts as data increasingly point to both inflation and economic slowdown.

"I'm expecting all the central banks to remind markets they could still hike if they want to," said Giles Coghlan, chief market analyst at brokerage GCFX.

"The last thing they want to do is to signal they've won the inflation battle prematurely, because that will just allow markets to run positive on risk."

Carl Zeiss Meditec jumped 7.2% after the medical technology firm reported higher annual revenue and a more optimistic forecast.

Italy's Banco BPM gained 3.1% after pledging to moderately grow profits through 2026.

Saab gained 3% after Citigroup upgraded the Swedish defence group's stock to "buy" from "neutral", while Hydro rose 2.9% after J.P. Morgan raised the Norwegian aluminium maker's stock to "overweight" from "underweight".

Nokia fell as much as 2.6%, before turning positive, after the Finnish telecom equipment maker lowered its 2026 comparable operating margin target.

The healthcare sector was also down 0.3%, pulled down by a 2.4% fall in Novo Nordisk, the producer of blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy.

A study on Monday showed patients on Eli Lilly's weight-loss drug Zepbound substantially regained weight nearly a year after stopping treatment.

Hargreaves Lansdown slumped 7.2%, the worst hit on the STOXX 600, after Britain's market watchdog expressed concerns about the amount of interest and fees charged by some investment platforms.

Nordic Semiconductor fell 4.5% after the Norwegian fabless chipmaker said CEO Svenn-Tore Larsen would step down after 22 years. (Reporting by Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Shounak Dasgupta)