Europe open: Stocks inch higher ahead of inflation data, OPEC meeting

European stocks edged higher on Thursday morning, though gains were limited ahead of some much-anticipated inflation data from the eurozone and US later in the session.

The Stoxx 600 index was up 0.13% at 459.70, with small gains across Spain, Italy, France and Germany outweighing a slight fall on the UK's FTSE 100.

Helping sentiment early on was a better-than-expected retail sales result in Germany for October. Retail sales rose by 1.1%, rebounding after a 0.8% decline in September, and well ahead of the 0.4% gain expected by analysts.

Compared with October 2022, total retail sales were down just 0.1% after a 4.3% annual drop the month before. The consensus estimate was for a 2% year-on-year decline.

"This is the first bit of good news in Germany’s economy for a while," said economist Claus Vistesen from Pantheon Macroeconomics. "The monthly retail sales numbers are volatile, but at a first glance, the October data suggest that the drag on real consumers’ spending from rising inflation is now fading," Vistesen said.

Data on Wednesday showed a big slowdown in German inflation in November which, along with a Black Friday sales boost, should lift retail sales again this month.

Inflation stats for the whole eurozone will be released at 1000 GMT, and are expected to show a slowdown in annual core inflation to 3.9% from 4.2% in October.

Over in the US, October's personal consumption expenditures index – the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation – is also expected to show annual core inflation easing to 3.5% from 3.7% in September.

"A softer-than-expected figure could further fuel expectations of an early Fed cut, while a stronger-than-expected set of figures should, in theory, calm down the dovish enthusiasm and call for a rebound in the yields," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Europe-listed oil stocks were edging higher early on, including BP, TotalEnergies, Repsol and Shell, ahead of a keenly awaited OPEC+ meeting later on, which will decide on the next steps in production policy. The meeting had been delayed by a week due to some reported disagreements between member nations.

"There has been widespread disagreements on quotas amongst the smaller OPEC members who are reluctant to forego the extra barrels and the revenue that goes with them," said analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets.

In London, shares in Dr Martens tumbled 20% after the iconic bootmaker warned on profits as it said the Autumn/Winter season has been hit by warm weather and weaker traffic.