BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were moving higher on Thursday after a measure of U.S. consumer prices barely rose in May, bolstering expectations for Fed rate cuts this year.
The upside remained limited as euro-area finance ministers meet in Luxembourg to discuss disciplinary action on Italy over its debt load.
Elsewhere, the 10 candidates running to replace Britain's outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May are facing the first round of voting today.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.3 percent at 381.05 after declining 0.3 percent in the previous session.
The German DAX was rising 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 index was up 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was gaining 0.3 percent.
Telefónica Deutschland rallied 3.4 percent after it received 90 MHz nationwide spectrum for the mobile radio standard 5G through to 2040.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets advanced 1.5 percent. The company said it was expanding its collaboration with e-Commerce giant Amazon to many more cities across the U.K.
Packaging products maker DS Smith jumped 5 percent after reporting a strong set of annual results.
Shares of Thales jumped 2.5 percent in Paris after the technology company lifted its forecast for fiscal 2019 EBIT and order intake.
Copper producer Aurubis slumped 7.2 percent. The company said its chief executive will leave two weeks earlier than planned.
United Internet soared 5.4 percent and 1&1 Drillisch jumped as much as 7 percent after Germany completed its 5G mobile spectrum auction.
In economic news, the Swiss National Bank today introduced the SNB policy rate, replacing the three-month Libor, saying the future of the Libor is not guaranteed. The SNB maintained the expansionary monetary policy as before.
Eurozone industrial production fell at the fastest rate in four months in April, figures from Eurostat showed.
Industrial production declined 0.5 percent month-on-month in April, following a 0.4 percent fall in March. This was in line with economists' expectations.
The latest decrease in production was the worst since December last year, when it was down 0.9 percent.
Germany's consumer price inflation eased to 1.4 percent in May from 2 percent in April, final data from Destatis revealed. The rate came in line with the estimate published on May 31.
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