Europe open: Shares edge higher ahead of euro zone GDP

European stocks made small gains at the opening on Friday, boosted by another set of corporate earnings ahead of euro zone first quarter economic growth data.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.2%, just below its record high.

In equity news UK pharmaceutical giant and maker of one of the Covid-19 vaccines AstraZeneca saw its shares up after reporting better-than-expected results and sales growth forecasts.

Swedish Match rose 1.9% after the tobacco group reported a much higher first-quarter operating profit than expected.

Barclays failed to impress investors, with the shares down 6.2% despite reporting a quarterly profit that more than doubled, while France’s BNP Paribas slipped was also lower after better-than-expected profit.