Europe open: Stocks edge higher as focus turns to US data
European stocks edged higher in early trade on Thursday as investors awaited the release of US initial jobless claims later in the day and the non-farm payrolls report on Friday.
At 0925 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 index was up 0.3% at 474.70, while Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were also 0.3% firmer, at 15,871.74 and 6,776.80, respectively.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: "European stock markets showed some signs of wanting to kick on after shrugging off some early weakness at the start of the session.
"The FTSE 100 is handicapped to the tune of 13pts already due to ex-dividend factors but the overall tone was initially one of caution as yesterday’s ADP jobs miss has investors looking ahead to tomorrow’s nonfarm payrolls.
"Slightly hawkish chatter around the European Central Bank is also maybe leading to some caution, whilst there is yet further evidence of China’s crackdown on tech firms as it hauls up 11 ride-hailing for ‘illegal behaviour’."
In equity markets, London-listed engineer and GKN owner Melrose Industries rallied after saying it was trading ahead of expectations as the turnaround company reported a narrower loss for the first half of 2021. The company reported a statutory pre-tax loss of £151m for the six months to the end of June compared with a £585m loss a year earlier as revenue rose to £3.54bn from £3.39bn.
Elsewhere, biopharmaceutical company Swedish Orphan Biovitrum surged more than 20% after US private equity firm Advent International and Aurora Investment offered to buy the group in a deal valued at about 69.4bn Swedish crowns.