The UK market is modestly higher in afternoon trading on Thursday, even as some unimpressive earnings news forced investors in other markets in the region to exercise caution.
On the economic front, Eurozone's trade surplus more than doubled in March from a month ago, data published by Eurostat showed. The surplus amounted to 22.9 billion euros in March, higher than 10.1 billion euros in February. In March 2012, the balance was positive at 6.9 billion euros.
Eurozone inflation slowed as initially estimated to 1.2 percent in April from 1.7 percent in March, final data from Eurostat revealed. Month-on-month, prices were down 0.1 percent. Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, fell to 1 percent from 1.5 percent a month ago.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is falling 0.12 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is losing 0.23 percent.
The FTSE 100 index is currently advancing 0.2 percent.
Aviva is gaining 7.4 percent. The insurer said pro forma value of life new business, a key measure of growth, increased 18 percent in its first quarter, driven mainly by solid growth in developed markets of UK and France.
TUI Travel is gaining 3.3 percent. William Hill and ITV are adding 2.6 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
Vedanta is up 0.8 percent after reporting annual results.
Deutsche Bank cut HSBC to ''Hold'' from ''Buy.'' The stock is flat.
Antofagasta is losing 0.5 percent. The copper miner reported a 29.3 percent decline in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for its first quarter, reflecting lower revenues and higher operating costs.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX, the French CAC 40 and Switzerland's SMI are lower.
In Asia/Pacific, markets were mixed. Australia's All Ordinaries slid 0.6 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.4 percent. On the other hand, China's Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a weak open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks saw some volatility over the course of the trading day before ending the session mostly higher. The Dow rose 0.4 percent, the Nasdaq advanced 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent.
Among commodities, crude for June delivery is falling $0.90 to $93.40 per barrel and June gold is losing $25.7 to $1370.5 a troy ounce.
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