The German market is rising in afternoon trading Thursday, led by automakers. Sentiment was influenced by easing of economic worries and firm cues from Asia.
Crude for October delivery is trading up $0.47 at $75.14 per barrel. December gold is sliding $2.3 at $1255.2 an ounce.
In economic news, German annual consumer price inflation eased to 1% in August from 1.2% in July, a final report by the Federal Statistical Office showed. Compared with July, consumer prices remained unchanged in August, compared to the 0.3% rise in the preceding month.
In France, confirming the preliminary estimate, payroll employment increased 0.2% in the second quarter from the previous quarter, a final report from the statistical office INSEE revealed.
As expected, the Bank of England left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low again and maintained the size of the quantitative easing at GBP 200 billion. At the end of the two-day rate setting meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee decided to retain the interest rate at 0.5%, the lowest since the central bank was established in 1694.
Meanwhile, Australia's unemployment rate declined in August to a seasonally adjusted 5.1%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Most economists had forecast a decrease of 0.1% to 5.2%.
In the U.S., a Labor Department report showed that first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell by much more than expected in the week ended September 4. Initial jobless claims fell to 451,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 478,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to edge down to 470,000 from the 472,000 originally reported for the previous week.
The DAX opened below the flat line at 6,142 and remained in the red in early trade. The index, however, erased those losses, and is currently adding 0.83%.
Chipmaker Infineon Technologies is leading the gainers by adding 2.5%. Business software maker SAP is climbing 1.8%.
Among automakers, MAN is rising 2.4%, Daimler is adding 2.1%, Volkswagen is gaining 1.5% and Bayerische Motoren Werke is advancing 0.8%.
Personal care products maker Beiersdorf and Henkel are up 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively.
Commerzbank is adding 0.7%, while Deutsche bank is receding 0.3%.
Those making notable losses include utilities RWE and E.ON.
Elsewhere in Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 is adding 1.14% and the French CAC 40 is rising 1.04%.
Across Asia/Pacific, most major markets closed in the green. Australia's All Ordinaries added 0.94%, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.82% and India's BSE Sensex rose 0.71%. However, China's Shanghai Composite Index surrendered 1.44%.
In the U.S., futures indicate a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the major averages closed slightly higher. The Dow gained 0.4%, the Nasdaq advanced 0.9% and the S&P 500 rose 0.6%.
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