BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (Alliance News) - European stocks were marginally higher on Thursday after having fallen to a five-month low earlier in the day.
Sentiment improved somewhat after reports that the US and Canada have made progress in talks to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Meanwhile, China has warned that it will be forced to retaliate if the US implements any new tariff measures after the end of a public comment period.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.1% at 376 in late opening deals after declining 1.1% in the previous session.
The German DAX was also up 0.1% and the UK's FTSE 100 was marginally higher while France's CAC 40 index was rising 0.3%.
Swiss drug major Novartis was marginally higher after it agreed to sell selected portions of its Sandoz US portfolio to Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc.
Italian utility Enel advanced 1.6% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock rating to buy.
UK drugmaker Shire dropped 1.2% after it announced the acquisition of sanaplasma AG, a source plasma collection company headquartered in Switzerland.
Mining giant BHP Billiton dropped 2.6% on going ex-dividend.
British utility Centrica jumped 4.7% after the energy watchdog set an energy price cap for "typical usage" in an attempt to help consumers struggling with the increasing costs.
Engineering firm Weir Group fell over 6% after warning of pricing pressure and considerable softening in demand.
French food services and facilities management group Sodexo S.A. lost nearly 5% after it unveiled a strategic plan to boost growth.
Defense company Safran soared 6% after reporting better-than-expected half-year results and raising full-year forecasts.
In economic releases, German factory orders unexpectedly fell 0.9% in July from June, confounding expectations for an increase of 1.8%, official data showed. Nonetheless, this was slower than the 3.9% decline seen in June.
Separately, survey results from IHS Markit revealed that German construction activity returned to growth midway through the third quarter after having stalled in July.
