European Shares Inch Higher As Cisco Earnings Beat Estimates

European stocks traded higher on Thursday as U.S.-China talks got underway and official data showed the U.K. economy grew at a faster pace in the first quarter, driven by contribution from all three sectors.

U.K. GDP increased 0.6 percent sequentially, following the fourth quarter’s 0.2 percent expansion. GDP grew at a pace of 0.3 percent in March alone, while economists had forecast a contraction of 0.1 percent.