European shares opened higher on Thursday as financials got a lift from Swiss lender UBS’s decision to absorb Credit Suisse’s domestic bank, while investors brace for a barrage of key economic data due later in the day.
By 0710 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 edged 0.1% higher, but lost more than 2% so far this month.
Shares of UBS Group gained 6.3%, hitting their highest level since late-2008, after the bank also said it was increasing its ambitions for cost savings to more than $10 billion across the group.
The broader financial services index added 1.4%.
On investors’ radar would be a preliminary reading of the euro zone inflation, German unemployment and the U.S. inflation print, with policy meetings from the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank due next month.
Preliminary EU-harmonised official data showed French inflation accelerated more than expected in August.
Among other individual stocks, Pernod Ricard (EPA:PERP) slipped 4.1% after the owner of Mumm champagne and Absolut vodka reported full-year results.
