The UK market is rising moderately in afternoon trading Thursday, after Greek lawmakers voted for austerity measures. Firm cues from Asia/Pacific and a positive comment from a Chinese think tank also influenced sentiment.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks is adding 0.23 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, is advancing 0.02 percent.
The FTSE 100 opened at 5,856 and has remained above the flat line. The index is currently adding 0.55 percent.
Lender Lloyds Banking Group is surging 8.6 percent, Royal Bank of Scotland is climbing 3.65 percent and Barclays is adding 1.3 percent. Lloyds said it plans to cut 15,000 middle-level jobs as part of its effort to deliver 1.5 billion pounds of annual savings in 2014.
BG Group is advancing 4.3 percent. The company issued a material upgrade for its interests in the pre-salt Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, stating that mean total reserves and resources are currently estimated to amount to some 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with an upside potential of 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
Petrofac is losing 2.9 percent. The oil & gas services provider said its operations are performing in line with expectations, adding separately that its Chief Financial Officer Keith Roberts is retiring with effect from December 31.
Among miners, BHP Billiton and Anglo American are notably higher.
Swiss commodities trader Glencore is falling about 0.5 percent. Citigroup started the stock with a "Buy" rating and a price target of 570 pence. Meanwhile, Exane BNP Paribas initiated the stock with a "Neutral" rating and a price target of 570 pence.
Elsewhere in Europe, the German DAX is losing 0.02 percent and the French CAC 40 is rising 0.17 percent. Switzerland's SMI is advancing 0.01 percent.
In economic news, Retail sales in Germany decreased unexpectedly in May, data from the Federal Statistical Office showed. Sales fell 2.8 percent month-on-month after adjusting to seasonal and calender variations. In April, sales remained unchanged. Economists were looking for a 0.5 percent increase. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate was 5.9 percent in May, compared to 7.2 percent last year.
Eurozone annual inflation unexpectedly remained at 2.7 percent in June, flash estimate released by Eurostat said. Economists had expected it to accelerate to 2.8 percent from 2.7 percent in May.
In the U.K., house prices remained flat in June on a monthly comparison after rising 0.3 percent in May, matching consensus forecast, data from the Nationwide Building Society revealed. Price of a typical home in June was 1.1 percent lower than a year ago, following a 1.2 percent drop in May. The consensus forecast called for a 1.3 percent drop for June.
China's State Information Center forecast the economy to grow at a robust pace of 9.5 percent in the first half of the year, with little chance of a hard landing.
Across Asia/Pacific, many major markets ended notably higher. Australia's All Ordinaries added 1.75 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.23 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.53 percent and Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 percent.
In the U.S., futures point to a higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the Nasdaq climbed 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.8 percent.
In the commodity space, crude for August delivery is sliding $0.22 to $94.55 per barrel, while August gold is adding $0.8 to $1511.2 a troy ounce.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.