PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The European markets were trading higher on Thursday afternoon, ahead of the key monthly jobs data from the U.S., even as a breakthrough in Greece's bailout package talks still remains elusive.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras vowed to press ahead with a controversial bailout referendum, despite pressure from European leaders. Eurozone finance ministers have ruled out further talks and rejected any bailout extension until after the country's referendum on Sunday.
Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis are recommending Greeks to vote 'No' to the bailout proposals after the government showed willingness to accept the bailout offer with various conditions. Opinion polls expect the vote to be close.
In a release, Tsipras said the referendum is not about Greece staying in the Eurozone but it is the people's verdict to seek a viable solution whether to accept the institutions' bailout agreement. He said the Greek government would be at the negotiating table on Monday after the referendum to seek better terms.
On the economic front, Eurozone producer prices continued to decline in May largely due to notable weakness in energy costs, data from Eurostat showed. Producer prices fell 2 percent year-on-year in May following a 2.1 percent drop in April.
Sweden's central bank unexpectedly cuts its key repo rate and expanded its asset purchase program. The Executive Board of the Riksbank lowered its key rate to -0.35 percent from -0.25 percent.
The bank also extended its government bond purchase program by a further 45 billion Swedish kronor with effect from September and until the end of the year.
U.K. house prices declined unexpectedly in June, data from the Nationwide Building Society revealed. House prices dropped 0.2 percent month-on-month in June, confounding expectations for a 0.5 percent rise.
The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks was losing 0.08 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, was adding 0.20 percent.
The German DAX, the French CAC 40, the FTSE 100 index of the U.K. and Switzerland's SMI rose marginal to moderately.
In Frankfurt, utilities RWE and E.ON gained 4.5 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
Deutsche Boerse and Deutsche Telekom were moderately higher.
Deutsche Bank was modestly up, while Commerzbank fell modestly.
Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW were in negative territory.
In Paris, GDF Suez, Veolia Environnement and EDF gained between 1.9 percent and 1.7 percent.
Sanofi gained moderately, after signing a deal with SUEZ Environnement to enhance water and waste management. SUEZ climbed 2 percent.
Meanwhile, real estate firm Unibail Rodamco and department stores operator Kering were notably lower.
In London, Dixons Carphone gained 3.1 percent. The company's Connected World Services division has entered into an agreement with U.S. mobile network operator Sprint Corp. to open and manage a significant number of Sprint-branded stores in the U.S.
AstraZeneca and Hammerson were moderately higher.
Intertek fell around 3 percent after Jefferies cut the stock to 'Underperform' from 'Hold.'
Royal Mail was losing 2.7 percent and Ashtead dropped 2.5 percent.
Electrolux AB plunged 10.6 percent in Stockholm. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday in an attempt to block the $3.3 billion sale of General Electric Co.'s appliance business to the Swiss home appliances company.
The Asian stocks ended mostly higher for the third day in a row, despite any apparent progress in Greek debt talks.
In the U.S., futures point to a slightly higher open on Wall Street. In the previous session, the Dow rose 0.8 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq added half a percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent.
Crude for August delivery added $0.34 to $57.30 per barrel, while August gold fell $8 to $1161.3 a troy ounce.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX