Europe midday: Stocks slightly higher, central banks and global trade in focus

Stocks are trading slightly in the green on the back of fresh record highs for US stocks overnight with investors still finding comfort in the relative lull in the US-China trade war and expectations for further easing by the world's central banks.

Against that backdrop, and with an increasing number of traders away from their desks in the run-up to the 4 July holiday in the States, markets were looking past the horse trading in Brussels to name the next Presidents of the European Commission and the European Union Council, and its new foreign policy chief - as well as increased tensions with Washington over trade.

"European markets have picked up where they left off yesterday, opening higher after President Trump said that new US, China trade talks had already restarted," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.

"Investors appear to be focussing on this for now and not on this morning’s reports that the US is set to impose new tariffs on EU goods in respect of its long running dispute between Boeing and Airbus which is currently at the WTO."

Overnight, the US Trade Representative's Office published a list of $4.0bn-worth of EU goods on which it might slap more tariffs in retaliation for what it says are unfair subsidies to jetmaker Airbus.

The EU was said to be preparing its own measures in response.

As of 1148 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was up by 0.24% to 388.79, alongside a dip of 0.01% to 12,520.29 for the German Dax, while the FTSE Mibtel was adding 0.39% to 21,335.32.

Ahead of the result of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision on whether to extend its oil output curbs, front month Brent crude oil futures were slipping by 0.32% to $64.85 a barrel on the ICE.

Meanwhile, in the fixed income space, the yield on the benchmark 10-year government note fell to a record low of -0.37% and that on the two-year note fell into negative territory for the first time.

Nevertheless, according to Bloomberg, which cited euro area central bank officials, the European Central Bank was not yet prepared to apply fresh monetary stimulus, wanting first to obtain more data on the state of the bloc's economy.