Europe open: Shares higher as investors snap up M&S, ICA Gruppen

European equities opened slightly higher on Wednesday as strong earnings from Britain’s Marks & Spencer and a proposed buyout of Swedish grocery chain ICA Gruppen drove sentiment.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.2% in early deals after Wall Street ended its multi-day rally, and Chinese stocks fell on the back of weak inflation data.

China's factory gate prices surged to a 26-year high in October amid a power crisis, according to figures released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Producer price inflation rose from 10.7% year-on-year in September to 13.5%, versus expectations for 12.3%.

Meanwhile, consumer price inflation rose to a 13-month high of 1.5% in October from 0.7% the month before. This was due partly to a rise in fuel price inflation to a new high of 31.4% from 22.8%.

In equity news, Marks & Spencer topped the Stoxx as the shares surged more than 15% after the retailer lifted guidance and reported better-than-expected interim earnings.

ICA Gruppen shares were also in demand after its main owner ICA-handlarnas Forbund and pension fund AMF said they had made a recommended offer for the Swedish grocery retailer that values it at 107.4 billion kronor ($12.5bn).

Alstom shares were up after the train maker reported a smaller-than-expected cash outflow for the first half of its financial year.

UK broadcaster ITV gained as the company said it expected to post record full-year advertising revenue as the local economy bounced back from the Covid pandemic.

On the downside, digital advertising group S4 Capital plunged 11.3% despite the reporting a 42% rise in third quarter like-for-like gross profit.