Fading chances of hard Brexit uplifts European markets

European shares hit a five-month high in morning trading on Thursday after the British parliament voted to reject a disorderly Brexit. Markets remained in a cautious mood however as another crucial vote to delay leaving the European Union is pending on Thursday evening. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3 per cent at 0817 GMT while the FTSE 100 was down 0.1 per cent. Sterling was experiencing a similar retreat after its gains during the previous session.

"We now see a 60 per cent chance (up from 55 per cent) that a close variant of the prime minister's current Brexit deal is eventually ratified," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote, adding the probability of a no-deal Brexit had fallen to 5 per cent. Among individual stocks, Lufthansa posted the worst performance after publishing results and an 11 per cent decline in fourth-quarter operating profits.

Germany's GEA was the top riser, up 8.3 per cent as its results were cheered by investors, as were those of Italy's Leonardo.