European stocks push higher, eyes on U.S. data; Dax up 0.70%

Investing.com - European stocks pushed higher on Thursday, as investors eyed the release of highly anticipated U.S. economic reports, although concerns over the handling of Spain and Greece's debt woes continued to linger.

During European afternoon trade, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.73%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.69%, while Germany’s DAX 30 climbed 0.70%.

Investors remained cautious amid uncertainty over when Spain may request a bailout and whether Greece will secure the next tranche of its bailout funding.

Sentiment found some support however after official data showed that China’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 50.2 in October, up from 49.8 in September, just slightly below forecasts for a reading of 50.3.

A separate report showed that the final reading of China’s HSBC PMI came in at 49.5 in September, an eight month high.

Financial stocks turned broadly higher, as shares in French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale added 0.59 % and 0.01%, while Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank advanced 0.60% and 0.81% respectively.

Italian lenders also posted sharp gains, as shares in Unicredit wer up 1.59% and Intesa Sanpaolo saw shares advance 0.89%.

Meanwhile, Maurel & Prom surged 8.80% amid reports China Petrochemical, also known as Sinopec Group, has held informal discussions with Maurel in the past year though hurdles to a deal remain.

In London, FTSE 100 rose advanced 0.67%, boosted by sharp gains in financial stocks.

Shares in HSBC Holdings jumped 1.23% and Barclays advanced 2.67%, while the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking rallied 3.28% and 6.46% respectively.

Lloyds Banking said earlier that the amount it pays out each month to settle payment protection insurance claims fell to GBP250 million in the third quarter from GBP300 million pounds in the second half.

Mining giant Rio Tinto added to gains, with shares rising 0.60%, while copper producers Xstrata and Kazakhmys added 0.12% and 0.28%, trimming earlier gains.

Also on the upside, British Sky Broadcasting saw shares surge 5.01% after saying that first quarter earnings were up 16%, as price rises and the sale of additional products to subscribers helped mask an otherwise steady performance in signing up new customers.

In the U.S., equity markets pointed to a steady open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a 0.02% gain, S&P 500 futures signaled a 0.02% loss, while the Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a 0.17% rise.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release the ADP report on nonfarm payrolls, as well as the weekly government report on initial jobless claims. In addition, the Institute of Supply Management was to publish data on U.S. manufacturing activity.