Europe open: Stocks creep higher amid inflation drop, investors more confident

European equities started Thursday on the front foot, boosted by larger than expected falls in German and Spanish consumer prices in March and shrugged off hawkish remarks from two top US central bank officials.

At of 08:21 GMT the benchmark Stoxx 600 was 0.03% higher to 378.64, as the German Dax edged up 0.07% to 12,211.25 and the Cac-40 added 0.05% to 5,071.78.

Despite the slow start to trading with just two days to go to the end of the month, strategists at Morgan Stanley reportedly said March's rise in both the Euro Stoxx 50 and the euro - the first in a year - was a sign of greater conviction on the part of investors.

Spanish consumer prices advanced at a 2.1% year-on-year pace in March, down from the 3.0% pace observed in the prior month (consensus: 2.3%).

CPI in the German state of Saxony falling back to 1.8% versus 2.4% in February.

On the calendar for Thursday were euro area industrial confidence figures for March at 09:00 GMT and preliminary German consumer price data for the same month which were due at noon.

Later in the day, traders will be watching out for the latest weekly US initial unemployment claims data and revised fourth quarter GDP figures, alongside a speech from Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester.

Speaking overnight, John Williams and Eric Rosengren at the Federal Reserve both alluded to the possibility of three more interest rate hikes from the Fed in 2017, Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda explained.

"With two more officials due to speak today, it will be interesting to see whether we’re seeing another coordinated response from the Fed to lift rate expectations, with markets having recently pared them back a fair bit," Erlam said.

In corporate news, worker representatives at German industrial gas manufacturer Linde were increasingly against plans for a merger with US rival Praxair, Handelsblatt reported.

Oil services group Saipem said on Wednesday it had launched a €500.0m fixed-rate non-convertible bond.