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European stocks traded higher on Thursday, with France’s political crisis and the ECB rate decision in the spotlight. <\/p>\n
Mass protests swept France as new Prime Minister S\u00e9bastien Lecornu takes office amid anger over budget cuts and political turmoil.<\/p>\n
The European Central Bank is scheduled to announce its rate decision later today and analysts expect no change in the deposit rate.<\/p>\n
Focus will be on the customary press conference and the central bank’s updated macroeconomic projections for the euro area.<\/p>\n
U.S. CPI data also remains on investors’ radar following a surprisingly encouraging report on producer prices the day before. <\/p>\n
The pan European STOXX 600 was up 0.3 percent at 553.65 after finishing marginally lower on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
The German DAX was marginally higher, France’s CAC 40 surged 0.6 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4 percent. <\/p>\n
In corporate news, British gambling technology<\/span> company Playtech surged 6.6 percent after the company announced strong first-half results and said it is positioned to exceed full-year expectations.<\/p>\n Gas producer Energean rose 1.3 percent despite cutting its annual production forecast for the second time in nearly four months.<\/p>\n Online ticketing platform Trainline soared nearly 10 percent following a robust first-half trading statement.<\/p>\n Technip Energies jumped 5.2 percent in Paris. The energy infrastructure company has agreed to buy U.S.-based chemicals group Ecovyst’s Advanced Materials & Catalysts business<\/span> for $556 million.<\/p>\n Sanofi gained 1 percent after its SAR402663 earned fast track designation in the U.S. for neovascular age-related macular degeneration. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Business News<\/p>\n<\/div>\n