Europe close: Stocks recover from early selling

European shares were marginally higher on Thursday, albeit having recovered from early losses.

Aiding investor sentiment was a sharp rise in shares of US social media giant Meta on the back of its latest corporate update.

"Despite a deluge of earnings announcements that have been largely positive, European markets have struggled to gain traction today after the losses of yesterday, although we have seen some modest buying in some key areas with consumer staples and financials getting a lift from some solid company updates," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.18% to 464.03 with all the major regional bourses higher.

France's Cac-40 was up by 0.23% to 7,483.84, alongside a 0.19% rise for the FTSE Mib to 27,158.

The Stoxx 600 sector gauge for lenders was higher by 1.09% as concerns around the banking sector apparently ebbed.

In equity news, the focus was firmly on banks, with Deutsche Bank shares up 2% as it recorded its 11th straight quarterly profit, while Barclays also rose after a 16% jump in profit driven by higher rates and gains in its consumer credit card division.