The UK market is trading higher on Wednesday, as investors remained resilient after Germany's first-quarter GDP Growth missed forecast and France entered recession.
The German economy narrowly escaped recession in the first quarter of 2013, but the growth was weaker than forecast, as the country's coldest winter in a century adversely affected economic activity. Meanwhile, France slipped into a recession amid flagging investment and exports.
Separately, Eurozone's economy contracted more than expected by economists, preliminary data from Eurostat showed.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is gaining 0.43 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is adding 0.44 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is currently up 0.21 percent.
EasyJet is surging 6.3 percent. The company reported a narrower first-half loss, adding that it sees improved results for the year.
London Stock Exchange is gaining 4.7 percent after reporting annual results.
Land Securities is gaining 4 percent. The firm reported higher full year profit.
Polymetal International is declining 5.7 percent. WM Morrison and ITV are falling 3.6 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX and and the French CAC 40 are making small gains while Switzerland's SMI is adding 1 percent.
Across Asia/Pacific, markets were mostly higher. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.5 percent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 2.3 percent. Meanwhile, Australia's All Ordinaries fell 0.6 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a mixed open on Wall Street. Across the Atlantic, traders will likely keep an eye on reports on producer price inflation, industrial production and homebuilder confidence for clues about whether the Fed would taper back its $85 billion quantitative easing program.
In the previous session, stocks posted notable gains on optimism the U.S. economy is gaining traction. The Dow rose 0.8 percent and the S&P 500 added a percent to new record highs, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.7 percent to set another fresh twelve-year high.
In the commodity space, crude for June delivery is falling $0.69 to $93.52 per barrel and June gold is losing $14.8 to $1409.7 a troy ounce.
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