Sharecast - The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.77% at 0715 GMT with all major bourses higher. The mood was also helped by a lower-than-expected reading on consumer price inflation from China.
CPI for March came in at 0.7% against expectations of a 1% rise year on year. The producer price index also fell 2.5% year-on-year, in line with forecasts after a decline of 1.4% in the previous month.
There was little corporate news to drive markets. AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) and Sanofi (EPA:SASY) updated and simplified their agreements relating to the development and commercialisation of child respiratory disease drug nirsevimab in the US. Sobi shares gained on the news.
Glencore (LON:GLEN) rose on reports that chief executive Gary Nagle plans to meet with some of Teck Resources' Canadian shareholders on Thursday to lobby them for support of its proposed takeover of the copper and zinc miner.
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com