The French market erased early losses and is rising in afternoon trading Thursday. Sentiment was impacted by a slew of economic reports and firm cues from Asia/Pacific.
Crude for October delivery is slipping $0.43 at $73.48 per barrel, while December gold is adding $1.8 at $1249.9 an ounce.
Eurozone economic growth in the second quarter was 1% on a sequential basis, first estimates released by Eurostat said. The statistical office confirmed the preliminary estimate issued on August 13. In the first quarter, the economy had expanded 0.3%.
In the Eurozone, producer prices rose in July in line with economists' expectations. The producer price index climbed 4% year-on-year in July, faster than 3% in June, Eurostat said. Month-on-month, the PPI rose 0.2% in July, a tad slower than June's 0.3%.
Construction activity in the U.K. slowed in August reflecting weakness in housing construction. Markit Economics said the CIPS construction purchasing managers' index came in at 52.1, down from 54.1 in the previous month.
U.K. house prices dropped more than expected in August as the imbalance between supply and demand in the housing market increased, revealed data released by Nationwide Building Society. House prices fell 0.9% compared to July, faster than the 0.5% decrease in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 0.3% drop.
In Switzerland, economy recorded a 0.9% sequential expansion in the second quarter, a report from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs revealed. The growth figure topped economists' forecast of 0.8%, but was down from 1% growth recorded in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, as expected, the European Central Bank held the key interest rate at 1%.
In the U.S., first-time claims for unemployment benefits showed a modest decrease in the week ended August 28, said a report released by the Labor Department. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged down to 472,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 478,000. Economists had expected jobless claims to inch up to 475,000 from the 473,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The CAC 40 index opened below the flat line at 3,610 and remained in negative territory in early trade. The index is currently gaining 0.13%.
Airbus maker EADS is adding 2.09%, followed by Alcatel Lucent, which is rising 1.70%. Cap Gemini is advancing 1.7%.
Car maker Renault is rising 1.03% and Peugeot is adding 0.7%. Other notable risers include Air France-KLM, department stores operator PPR and steel giant ArcelorMittal.
Heavy construction firm Vinci is rising 0.93% and Bouygues is adding 0.5%.
Among lenders, Societe Generale is adding 0.4% and BNP Paribas is rising 0.2%. However, Credit Agricole and Dexia are losing 0.1% and 0.8%, respectively.
Pernod Ricard is declining 2.2%. The beverages firm reported a marginal rise in profit and lower sales for year ended June 30.
Media house Lagardere and Schneider Electric are sliding 1.6% and 1.2%, each.
Elsewhere in Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 is adding 0.05% and the German DAX is losing 0.06%.
Across Asia/Pacific, most major markets closed in the green. Australia's All ordinaries gathered 0.80% and China's Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.25%. Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 1.52% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.18%.
The U.S. futures indicate a higher opening on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow surged 2.5%, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 soared 3%.
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