Europe open: Stocks gains as Eurozone and UK PMIs beat forecasts

European stocks were mostly higher on Thursday morning as investors reacted to a barrage of mostly better-than-expected purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) out across the continent, though gains were limited with US markets closed for Thanksgiving.

"European stocks searched for direction on Thursday with little coming from the US side for the rest of the week," said Neil Wilson, analyst at Markets.com. "It’s a holiday-shortened week with a half day on Friday, too – in most cases it’s back Monday."

The Stoxx 600 was up just 0.16% early on, with all the major indices across Europe not making any significant moves up nor down.

In economic data, the HCOB Eurozone composite PMI improved from 46.5 to 47.1 in November, ahead of expectations but still firmly below the 50-point level which separates growth from contraction. Both the manufacturing and services sub-indices came in ahead of forecasts. PMIs across France were broadly unchanged from the previous month, but worse than what analysts were looking for, while German PMIs surprised to the upside.

Over in the UK, the S&P Global/CIPS composite PMI for November jumped to 50.1 from 48.7 last month, with the services sector returning to growth alongside a softer downturn in manufacturing. Analysts were expecting no change in the composite reading.

Meanwhile, oil prices continued their descent with Brent crude down a further 1% on Thursday morning at $81.16 a barrel after exceeding $95 briefly in late-September. Oil tumbled on Wednesday after OPEC+ delayed a meeting by a week to 30 November with rumours that member countries were not aligned on current production. According to Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia has expressed "dissatisfaction" with output levels of other members.

"The weakness has tended to follow questions over waning demand from major economies, although by the same token it provides other benefits. On the one hand, it removes some inflationary pressure, while the likes of airline and cruise stocks have also seen a recent bounce given the fact that lower fuel costs should improve overall profitability," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.

Despite the continued weakness in oil, oil stocks were bouncing back after heavy falls the previous session with BP, Shell and TotalEnergies all putting in decent gains.

Banking stocks across the continent were also performing well, with BNP Paribas and HSBC standout performers early on.