BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks were moving higher on Thursday as investors digested the latest batch of earnings and awaited the ECB policy decision for directional cues.
The ECB is scheduled to announce its latest interest rate decision at 12:45 p.m. London time, with Draghi's press conference set to follow at around 1:30 p.m.
In economic releases, data from Ifo Institute showed earlier in the day that the German business confidence weakened more-than-expected in July.
The business climate index fell to 95.7 in July from revised 97.5 in June. The score was forecast to fall to 97.2. The initial reading for June was 97.4.
The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.3 percent at 392.94 after edging up marginally the previous day.
The German DAX was marginally higher, France's CAC 40 index was rising 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent.
Swiss specialty chemicals company Sika fell 2.5 percent despite reporting better-than-expected sales growth during the first half and lifting its FY19 sales view.
Roche rose 1.4 percent. The health-care giant raised its 2019 sales outlook after posting strong first-half sales.
Specialty chemicals company Clariant plunged 10 percent as it slipped to net loss of 101 million Swiss francs in its first half, compared to last year's profit of 211 million francs.
Finnish telecom network equipment maker Nokia Corp jumped nearly 6 percent after narrowing its Q2 loss and reiterating its 2019 profit outlook.
Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev climbed 5.4 percent as it reported the fastest beer sales growth in five years.
German automakers BMW and Daimler fell around 1 percent after Nissan Motor announced it would slash 12,500 jobs globally by 2022 and cut output to rein in costs.
Chemicals giant BASF dropped 1.4 percent. The company said its earnings in the second quarter of 2019 were significantly negatively impacted by the lower volumes and margins in the chemicals and materials segments.
French food company Danone advanced 1.5 percent as it confirmed full-year guidance for like-for-like sales growth of about 3 percent.
Telecommunications operator Orange gained 1.8 percent after its first-half consolidated net income climbed 29.4 percent to 1.14 billion euros from last year's 879 million euros.
Energy management firm Schneider Electric rallied 3 percent after its first-half results topped forecasts.
Consumer goods giant Unilever fell over 1 percent in London after its second-quarter sales growth fell short of estimates.
Defense and aerospace group Cobham jumped as much as 35 percent after U.S. private equity group AdventInternational agreed to buy it for 4 billion pounds ($5billion).
Drugmaker AstraZeneca rallied 5.5 percent after raising its annual product sales forecast.
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