Europe open: Stocks edge higher as investors continue to digest ECB

European stocks nudged higher in early trade as investors continued to mull over the implications of the extension of the European Central Bank’s stimulus plan.

At 0850 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.2%, Germany’s DAX was 0.1% firmer and France’s CAC 40 was 0.3% higher.

Meanwhile, oil prices were in the black ahead of a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC members on Saturday to discuss production. West Texas Intermediate was up 1.2% to $51.48 a barrel and Brent crude was 1.3% higher at $54.42.

Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said: “After Thursday’s ECB excitement things look a lot quieter this morning, the European market failing to move from the highs hit in the aftermath of Mario Draghi’s announcement.

"The DAX, still at a 12 month peak, slipped 0.1% after the bell, while the CAC barely budged; the euro was similarly sluggish, failing to improve on the $1.06 level if fell to yesterday, though it did take 0.2% back off the pound. There isn’t really much to move the eurozone indices this Friday – the most prominent catalyst for change would be news on Italian banking situation, but given that the country asked the ECB to give it until January to work out what to do with Monte dei Paschi that may not be forthcoming.”

Stocks rallied on Thursday after ECB chief Mario Draghi said the central bank would keep buying government bonds through next year, albeit at lower amounts each month from April.

The ECB said it will buy €60bn a month in government bonds from April 2017 until December 2017, compared to €80bn currently.

In corporate news, Electrolux shares rose after the Swedish home appliance maker said it expects demand for its products to slow next year.

Digital security group Gemalto racked up healthy gains after announcing an agreement to buy 3M’s identity-management business for $850m.

On the economic front, figures from Destatis showed Germany’s trade surplus was a little smaller than expected in October, with exports up 0.5% from the previous month and imports 1.3% higher. Analysts had been expecting exports to rise 1% and imports 0.9%.

The seasonally-adjusted trade surplus narrowed to €20.5bn from €21.1bn in September, versus expectations of €21.5bn.