Europe open: Shares edge ahead as investors punt on Flutter

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.26% in early deals with all major regional bourses higher.

In the UK, official data showed the economy contracted in the second quarter. GDP fell 0.1% following 0.8% growth in the previous quarter. Analysts had been expecting a 0.2% contraction.

There was a 0.4% decline in services output, with the largest negative contribution from human health and social work activities.

Last week, the Bank of England warned the UK would enter a recession at the end of this year, as it hiked interest rates by the most in 27 years.

In equity news, bookmaker Flutter topped the Stoxx the top of the FTSE 100 as it said US revenues were set to be ahead of expectations and that interim pre-tax losses had widened in the first half.

GlaxoSmithKline gained after saying it would that it would "vigorously defend" all claims related to its now-discontinued heartburn drug Zantac. It also said that both the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency have concluded there is no evidence of a causal association between ranitidine therapy (marketed as Zantac) and the development of cancer.

Shares in the pharmaceuticals giant had tumbled on Thursday amid worries about upcoming litigation.

Meanwhile, Haleon ticked higher - also after heavy losses a day earlier - as it said that it was not a party to any of the claims related to Zantac.

B&Q owner Kingfisher and homeware retailer Dunelm were both under the cosh after rating downgrades at UBS.

German energy giant Uniper was up 5% after reports suggested it could begin using US gas in place of liquefied natural gas it gets from Australia’s Woodside, in order to boost supply to Europe over the winter.

Danish software company SimCorp fell more than 7% to the bottom of the Stoxx after disappointing second-quarter earnings.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com