Europe midday: Stocks turn higher amid lack of direction

European stocks turned a little higher on Thursday, struggling for direction as investors continued to mull over central bank policy.

A midday, the Stoxx Europe 600 index, France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX were all up 0.3%.

In the UK, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% as the Bank of England stood pat on rates and left its asset purchase programme unchanged, as widely expected.

Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said central bank updates are continuing "to burden investors desperate for more stimulus to keep the accommodative policy market party going or at least signals that tighter policy is not imminent.

"All the while macro data remains mixed and concerns grow about both a waning potency of existing stimulus and fresh options running dry."

Meanwhile, oil prices steadied after falls earlier in the week, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.6% to $43.83 a barrel and Brent crude 1% higher at $46.24.

On the corporate front, Swedish retailer H&M was under the cosh after it posted a rise in August sales that fell significantly short of analysts’ expectations.

EDF was also in the red after the UK gave the go ahead to the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station.

High street fashion stalwart Next was under the cosh after posting a drop in first-half profit and highlighting challenging trading since July.

GlaxoSmithKline nudged down despite saying its shingles vaccine proved highly successful in a trial among elderly patients.

On the upside, France's Zodiac Aerospace was a high riser after it reported better-than-expected revenues for the full year.

UK supermarket chain Wm. Morrison was on the front foot after it reported a jump in first-half profit, while Informa traded higher after announcing plans to buy Penton Information Services for £1.2bn.

On the data front, inflation in the eurozone was confirmed at 0.2% in August, unchanged from July, according to Eurostat.

For the European Union, inflation came in at 0.3%, up from 0.2% the month before.

The lowest annual rates were registered in Croatia, Bulgaria and Slovakia, with the highest rates in Belgium, Sweden and Estonia.

Food, alcohol and tobacco prices rose 1.3%, down slightly from a 1.4% increase in July. Meanwhile, energy prices fell 5.6%, which was less than the 6.7% drop seen in July.

Claus Vistesen, chief eurozone economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “The EZ consumer price index was held back by a dip in core inflation last month, and a marginally lower rate of increase in food prices, which offset a continuing reduction in energy price deflation.

“Overall, we think the August data marks a temporary pause in the upward momentum which began in Q2, and see higher inflation ahead. The core rate should edge higher in the next six-to-12 months, and base effects will boost the year-over-year rate in energy prices further.”

On the US economic calendar, initial jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed survey at 1330 BST are among the highlights.