European stock markets rise at open, before ECB

LONDON: Europe's main stock markets advanced at the start of trading on Thursday, with investors eagerly awaiting the latest interest rate news from the European Central Bank.

In initial deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of major blue-chip firms was ahead by 0.2 percent at 7,448.02 points.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.5 percent to 12,514.84 points and the CAC 40 in Paris also won 0.5 percent to 5,239.46 points compared with the closing levels on Wednesday.