Europe midday: Stocks slightly higher although Trump concerns remain

European stocks were slightly higher on Thursday despite investors' concerns about US president Donald Trump’s economic plans.

At midday, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.3% to 375.16, Germany’s DAX rose 0.36% to 11,946.58 and France’s CAX was 0.23% firmer at 5,006.25.

In currency markets, the euro was flat versus the dollar at 1.0791 and down 0.17% against the pound at 0.86335.

Meanwhile, Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were up 0.51% to $50.90 and $48.29 a barrel, respectively.

Investors were eyeing the judgement of Donald Trump’s healthcare bill in the House of Representatives, and according to Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, if it is rejected markets could come crashing down.

“Much of the 2017 equities rally has been attributed to the expectation of a huge US infrastructure spending spree and a major cut in the corporate tax rate. Trump has already said the tax cut cannot be announced until the Healthcare bill is passed, and concerns are growing that if the bill is rejected then the ability of Trump and his team to persuade Congress to pass further bills will be in doubt,” Mahony said.

US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to give a speech in Washington at 1245 GMT, while Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari is also scheduled to make a speech later in the day.

Market participants were also digesting Wednesday’s terrorist attack in London, which left four people dead, including a police officer and the attacker, and 29 people injured.

On the data front, eurozone banks took up €233.5bn in the final targeted longer-term refinancing operation auction in the first quarter following the €62.2bn the previous quarter, and above the €110bn consensus forecast.

The GfK German consumer sentiment index fell to 9.8 for April from 10.0 in March, below the consensus forecast for it to remain unchanged. But economic expectations, a measure that has been found to correlate best with spending, recovered from a significant drop the previous month.

In corporate news, Ted Baker fell 5.53% despite the company reporting an increase in full-year revenue and profit.

Online gambling company GVC Holdings rose 2.33% after it reported a surge in full-year earnings and said it will pay a second special dividend for 2016.

Gemalto fell 4.31% after the Dutch security firm cut its guidance on Wednesday.

Accenture was up 0.53% after the Dublin-headquartered professional services company beat profit quarterly expectations.