Europe open: Markets rise after strong Chinese services PMI
European stocks were higher on Wednesday morning, as investors digested better-than-expected data from China and the eurozone.
At 0858 GMT, the Stoxx 600 was 0.4% higher at 400.07, as Germany's DAX rose by 0.4% to 13,046.34 and the French CAC 40 jumped by 0.5% to 5,754.79. Meanwhile, London's FTSE 100 was down by 0.1% at 7,151.15.
Investors were digesting data from Asia early in the session, after China's unofficial Caixin services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) climbed to 53.5 in November from 51.1 the month before, beating an anticipated reading of 51.2 and marking the fastest expansion since April.
Pantheon Macroeconomics analyst Freya Beamish said: "The index was due a bounce, though we hadn’t expected this much.
"The index is seasonally adjusted, but it’s very hard to gauge accurately the impact of events such as singles day, which are rapidly evolving each year. At the same time, the index is very volatile."
Meanwhile, the eurozone Markit composite PMI beat an earlier flash estimate that it would remain flat at 50.3 as it inched upward to 50.6 in November.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit said the data indicated a "near-stagnant economy" and pointed to fourth quarter GDP growth of just 0.1%, as manufacturing continued to act as a major drag and the service sector looked set for its weakest quarterly expansion in five years.
"Expectations are also among the lowest since the tail end of the sovereign debt crisis in 2013, as firms worry about trade wars, Brexit and slowing economic growth both at home and globally," added Williamson.
Among individual stocks, Airbus made gains after winning an order from US-based United Airlines for 50 new long-range passenger jets.
Swedish industrial group Trelleborg climbed after it announced plans to slimline its operations to three business areas as it launched a strategic review.
Infineon and STMicroelectronics both rose after a positive update from fellow chipmaker Microchip Technology.
Orange was in the red after its dividend outlook failed to meet expectations, though the French telecoms operator also announced plans to organise its European mobile mast operations into a separate company.