Europe open: Stoxx up with eyes on US-China summit, UK turmoil

(Sharecast News) - European shares opened higher on Thursday, with the US-China summit and continuing UK political turmoil in focus.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.37% at 613.58 BST with all major regional bourses higher. Britain's FTSE was up 0.05% after the release of GDP figures showing the economy grew by 0.3% in March, beating forecasts of a contraction of 0.2%. It also expanded by 0.6% in the January-March quarter, up from 0.2% in October-December.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer was waiting to see if Health Secretary West Streeting would launch a leadership challenge.

"Gilt traders will likely be paying closer attention to the political landscape today. (Former minister) Angela Rayner has also revealed this morning that she has been cleared of wrongdoing in her tax affairs, paving the way for her own leadership bid," said Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"There are rumours swirling around Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham. All this uncertainty, given that most of the candidates would stand on a 'higher spending' left leaning platform, means that investors might well continue to demand higher yields."

In Beijing, US President Donald Trump's was set to meet with fellow autocrat Xi Jinping, with the Iran war and trade on the table for talks.

On another busy day for corporate news, shares in 3i group plunged after it warned of slowing sales at discount retailer Action.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com