Despite lingering concerns over a trade war following U.S. President Donald Trump administration's plan to impose tariffs on imports from China, a few markets in the Europe, including the U.K., France and Germany, are slightly higher on Thursday, with investors picking up stocks after recent declines.
Though no big economic reports from the big three Germany, France and the U.K. due for release during the day, investors are awaiting data eurozone consumer price data and German wholesale price data, both due on Friday.
Germany's DAX index is up 41.84 points or 0.35 percent at 12,279.58, after having advanced to 12,352.28 earlier in the session.
Among the key gainers are, Volkswagen, which is up 2.3 percent and Lufthansa, up 1.8 percent. Muench.Rueckvers, Thyssenkrupp, Allianz, Siemens AG, Bayer, Infineon, Adidas, Merck and Continental are up 0.4 to 1.2 percent.
RWE and Prosiebensat are lower by 1.7 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively. E.ON, Fresenius, Beiersdorf, Commerzbank, Linde and Hidelberg Cement are modestly lower.
The French market is up marginally with its benchmark CAC 40 gaining 20.14 points or 0.38 percent at 5,253.50.
Valeo, Sanofi, Vivendi, STMicroelectronics, Louis Vuitton, Engie and Bouygues are up 1 to 1.6 percent.
Societe Generale shares are down 3 percent after the bank announced the unexpected departure of deputy chief executive Didier Valet. Sodexo is declining 1.6 percent.
In economic news, France's consumer price inflation eased slightly to 1.2 percent as initially estimated in February, latest figures from the statistical office Insee showed. Core inflation decelerated to 0.8 percent from 0.9 percent in January. On a monthly basis, consumer prices remained unchanged after falling 0.1 percent in January.
In London, U.K.'s benchmark FTSE 100 is up 9.31 points or 0.13 percent at 7,142.00.
Shares of supermarket giant Tesco PLC are up 3 percent following a rating upgrade by J.P. Morgan.
Shire, Prudential and LSE are up 1.5 to 2 percent, but it is healthcare stock Hikma Pharmaceuticals, which is hogging the limelight, rising as much as 13 percent.
Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, DCC, Standard Life, HSBC, Glencore, Old Mutual and Smiths Group are also trading higher.
Meanwhile, Hammerson and Intu Properties are declining 5 and 3 percent, respectively. WPP, Royal Mail, Micro Focus and Capita are also trading weak.
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Turkey are also up marginally.
Meanwhile, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Greece and Ireland are trading weak.
Among economic data from the eurozone, Ireland's economy expanded for the third straight quarter in the three months ended December, though at a slower pace than in the previous quarter, preliminary data from the Central Statistics Office showed. In real terms, gross domestic product advanced a seasonally adjusted 3.2 percent sequentially in the fourth quarter, following a 4.8 percent rise in the third quarter.
Another report from the Central Statistics Office showed Ireland's consumer price index to have climbed 0.5 percent year-over-year in February, faster than the 0.2 percent increase in January.
A report from the Czech Statistical Office showed that industrial production growth in the country accelerated in January, in line with expectations, climbing an unadjusted 5.5 percent year-over-year, faster than the 2.7 percent rise in December.
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