Europe midday: Stocks rise ahead of G20 leaders' summit

Investors across the Continent are pushing stocks higher amid a certain amount of hope as the G20 leaders summit in Osaka, Japan, gets underway.

Echoing those hopes, IG's Josh Mahony said:"it is worth noting that Trump’s relationship with Xi Jinping has typically been respectful and there is a good chance that once the meeting takes place, we could at least see an outcome which puts negotiations firmly back on the table."

Nevertheless, as strategists at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch pointed out, it would be exaggerated to talk of optimism.

"Consensus expects can-kicking, but no rolling back of tariffs that are already in place. With above-trend economic growth and the S&P 500 at an all-time high, there is no sense of urgency on the part of the US to reach an agreement," BofA-ML said in a research note sent to clients.

"Under a "real deal", the S&P 500 could rally as high as 3100 (more below). But if additional tariffs are implemented, the S&P 500 could sustain a 5%+ move lower."

As of 1243 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was ahead by 0.31% at 383.41, alongside a rise of 0.49% to 12,331.33 for the German Dax and an advance of 0.40% to 21,195.53 on the FTSE Mibtel.

On the economic side of things meanwhile, according to Eurostat consumer prices in the euro area advanced at a year-on-year pace of 1.2% in June, which was unchanged from the month before, as expected.

At the core level however, prices gains accelerated from 0.8% in May to 1.1% (consensus: 1.0%).

In parallel, Spain's statistics office reported that retail sales in the country rose at a year-on-year pace of 2.4% in May following a rise of 1.3% in the month before.