Europe open: Stocks nudge up on Draghi comments but Rolls-Royce and RWE slide

European stocks opened in the red on Thursday but comments from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, who insisted once again that the Bank is ready to act to combat inflation helped regional indices to nudge higher.

"Inflation dynamics have somewhat weakened, mainly due to lower oil prices and the delayed effects of the stronger euro exchange rate seen earlier in the year. In addition, price pressures, such as from producer prices, remain very subdued," Draghi said to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament in Brussels.

The euro fell as Draghi hinted at the possibility of further action and by 0900 GMT, was trading down 0.4% at $1.0711.

Stocks got a boost, however, with the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index and France’s CAC 40 both up 0.1% and Germany’s DAX up 0.3%, reversing opening losses.

On the corporate front, shares in Rolls-Royce tanked after the aerospace and engineering group issued another profit warning.

The jet engine marker said earnings for the year will be at the low end of guidance as it downgraded its expectations for next year and warned of a possible cut to the dividend.

German power producer RWE was also under the cosh after it cautioned that it would only just meet its full-year net profit target.

On the upside, German industrial group Siemens advanced after its fourth quarter results beat expectations, while luxury goods maker Hermes International rose after reporting an 8% increase in third quarter like-for-like sales despite a challenging environment.

London-listed luxury retailer Burberry was in the black after it posted a bigger-than-expected rise in first half pre-tax profit.

Still to come on the economic calendar, Eurozone industrial production data for September is due at 1000 GMT. In the US, initial jobless claims are at 1330 GMT.