Europe open: Stocks see slight gains ahead of US jobs data

Stocks on the Continent are moving slightly higher at the start of trading, tracking small gains on Wall Street overnight, even as traders mull what the pick of International Monetary Fund managing director, Christine Lagarde, as the next head of the European Central Bank, might mean for monetary policy going forward.

There were also positive news on Tuesday evening regarding the outlook for US-China trade talks, including upbeat remarks from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, a well-known trade hawk, but analysts were nevertheless cautious.

"The feel good factor lingered in Europe and the US yesterday, but it dawned on traders that’s its back to the drawing board in terms of trade negotiations," said CMC Markets UK's David Madden.

"According to President Trump, the new talks kicked off on Monday, so it is clear neither side are wasting any time. The loosening of limitations on Huawei is a step in direction, but the US concerns about intellectual property protection are likely to be a sticking point in the negotiations."

Investors were also waiting on US consultancy ADP's employment report at 1315 BST, an important lead indicator.

As of 0811 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was adding 0.37% to 390.82, alongside a rise of 0.30% to 5,593.53 for the Cac-40 and a gain of 0.40% to 12,577.31.

Front month Brent crude oil futures were edging up by 0.21% to $62.53 per barrel on the ICE.

To take note of, US markets were due to only be open for a shortened trading session in observance of the 4 July holiday the next day.

The economic calendar in Europe was light on Wednesday, with investors mainly waiting on revised readings for IHS Markit's services sector and composite Purchasing Managers' Index for the month of June, at 0900 BST.

However, a slew of other economic indicators were scheduled for release in the afternoon Stateside, including data on foreign trade, weekly jobless clams and the ISM institute's factory sector Purchasing Managers' Index.

German consumer goods outfit Henkel was on the front foot on the back of an upgrade out of Goldman Sachs from 'neutral' to 'buy'.

Shares of chipmakers such as Infineon on the other hand were moving lower after the US Department of Commerce overnight reportedly told staff that Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei should still be treated as if it were blacklisted.