European shares edge higher in thin holiday trade

PARIS: European stocks edged higher on Tuesday morning following the long Christmas weekend, helped by a late rally on Wall Street on Friday where better-than-expected macro data fuelled hopes for the global economy.

At 0803 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.3 percent at 992.84 points in thin trade, with UK markets remaining closed for the day.

Investors awaited the US Conference Board's December consumer confidence data, with economists in a Reuters survey expecting a reading of 58.3 compared with 56.0 in November.