LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - European shares turned positive in mid-morning trade on Thursday, with gains in drugmakers offsetting weakness in banks, while Adidas rose on upbeat results overnight from peer Nike.
By 1135 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,071.56 points, having touched a high at 1,071.94 points earlier. The index hit a 17-month closing high on Wednesday.
Drugmakers were higher. GlaxoSmithKline gained 2.6 percent after Novartis handed back U.S. rights to a drug widely thought to be a generic copy of Glaxo's blockbuster Advair, reducing the threat of cheap copies of the lung drug in the company's biggest market.
Novartis was flat, while AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis and Roche added 0.6 to 0.9 percent.
Among individual gainers, sports gear maker Adidas added 3.3 percent after peer Nike beat Wall Street expectations in its third quarter on Wednesday.
Banks were lower, reversing gains from the previous session. Barclays, HSBC, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank and Deutsche Bank lost 0.5 to 5.8 percent.
(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/POSITIVE (harpreet.bhal@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 4533; Reuters Messaging: harpreet.bhal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
By 1135 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,071.56 points, having touched a high at 1,071.94 points earlier. The index hit a 17-month closing high on Wednesday.
Drugmakers were higher. GlaxoSmithKline gained 2.6 percent after Novartis handed back U.S. rights to a drug widely thought to be a generic copy of Glaxo's blockbuster Advair, reducing the threat of cheap copies of the lung drug in the company's biggest market.
Novartis was flat, while AstraZeneca, Sanofi-Aventis and Roche added 0.6 to 0.9 percent.
Among individual gainers, sports gear maker Adidas added 3.3 percent after peer Nike beat Wall Street expectations in its third quarter on Wednesday.
Banks were lower, reversing gains from the previous session. Barclays, HSBC, Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank and Deutsche Bank lost 0.5 to 5.8 percent.
(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/POSITIVE (harpreet.bhal@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 4533; Reuters Messaging: harpreet.bhal.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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