Investing.com - European stocks were higher on Thursday, ahead of the European Central Bank's monthly policy meeting later in the day, where it was expected to outline the details of the bond purchasing stimulus program it announced in January.
During European morning trade, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.49%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.55%, while Germany’s DAX 30 gained 0.54%.
ECB President Mario Draghi was expected to shed more light on how the bank will implement its large scale quantitative easing program later on Thursday, following the bank’s policy meeting.
European equities had found support on Wednesday after data showed that euro area retail sales rose at the fastest rate in nine-year in January and private sector activity expanded at the quickest rate in seven months in February.
Earlier Thursday, data showed that German factory orders fell 3.9% in January, compared to expectations for a 1.0% decline. December's figure was revised to a 4.4% rise from a previously estimated 4.2% gain.
Financial stocks were broadly higher, as French lenders BNP Paribas (PARIS:BNPP) and Societe Generale (PARIS:SOGN) added 0.12% and 0.18%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank (XETRA:DBKGn) eased up 0.07%.
Among peripheral lenders, Italy's Unicredit (MILAN:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MILAN:ISP) climbed 0.54% and 0.87%, while Spanish banks Banco Santander (MADRID:SAN) and BBVA (MADRID:BBVA) advanced 0.51% and 0.72%.
Elsewhere, Carrefour (PARIS:CARR) SA jumped 1.72% after the French retailer reported a 6.7% rise in full-year earnings.
Adidas (XETRA:ADSGN) added to gains, with shares surging 2.96% after the sporting-goods maker forecast 2015 net income to climb as much as 10%.
In London, FTSE 100 edged up 0.12%, boosted by Schroders (LONDON:SDR) up 2.50% after the asset manager said investors added £24.8 billion to its funds last year, up from £7.9 billion in 2013.
Financial stocks were also mostly higher, as Lloyds Banking (LONDON:LLOY) edged up 0.15% and the Royal Bank of Scotland (LONDON:RBS) climbed 0.62%, while Barclays (LONDON:BARC) gained 0.72%. HSBC Holdings (LONDON:HSBA) underperformed however, with shares plummeting 1.95%.
Meanwhile, mining stocks were broadly lower on the commodity-heavy index. Shares in Glencore Xstrata (LONDON:GLEN) slid 0.44% and Bhp Billiton (LONDON:BLT) lost 0.64%, while Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) and Rio Tinto (LONDON:RIO) plunged 1.52% and 3.25% respectively.
In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a moderately higher open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.09% rise, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.08% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.12% increase.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the weekly report on initial jobless claims and data on factory orders.