European stocks surge ahead of inflation figures

European stocks saw a slight increase on Thursday as investors eagerly awaited the release of an inflation report and the minutes from the latest meeting of the European Central Bank, according to Reuters.

In particular, shares of Basilea experienced a significant jump following the US regulatory approval of the company’s bacterial therapy.

The STOXX 600 index, which covers the entire continent, rose by 0.1 per cent as of 07:20 GMT in anticipation of the region’s February producer prices, due to be released at 09:00 GMT.

Economists polled by Reuters predict that the producer price index will likely fall by 8.6 per cent, mirroring January’s figures.

Later in the day, investors are set to scrutinise the minutes from the ECB’s March meeting to determine the timing of the highly anticipated first interest rate cut.

Among the early risers, Basilea Pharmaceutica saw a 9.4 per cent surge to a more than six-month high after the Swiss company received approval from the US health regulator for its antibiotic Zevtera, which is used to treat bacterial infections, including those caused by multidrug-resistant strains.

Compugroup’s shares also rose by 7.5 per cent after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock rating of the German medical software company to “overweight” from “equal-weight.”