European stocks rise ahead of inflation data; Basilea shines

European stocks edged higher on Thursday with investors awaiting an inflation print and minutes from the European Central Bank's latest meeting, while shares of Basilea jumped following the U.S. regulatory approval for the drugmaker's bacterial therapy. The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was up 0.1%, as of 0720 GMT, ahead of the region's February producer prices due at 0900 GMT.

European stocks edged higher on Thursday with investors awaiting an inflation print and minutes from the European Central Bank's latest meeting, while shares of Basilea jumped following the U.S. regulatory approval for the drugmaker's bacterial therapy.

The continent-wide STOXX 600 index was up 0.1%, as of 0720 GMT, ahead of the region's February producer prices due at 0900 GMT. The producer prices index is likely to decline 8.6%, unchanged from January, according to economists polled by Reuters.

Later in the day, investors will parse minutes from the ECB's March meeting to ascertain the timing of the much-awaited first interest rate cut. Among early movers, Basilea Pharmaceutica surged 9.4% to an over six-month high after the Swiss firm received U.S. health regulator's approval for its antibiotic Zevtera which treats bacterial infections including multidrug-resistant strains.

Shares of Compugroup gained 7.5% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the German medical software company's stock rating to "overweight" from "equal-weight".

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)