European shares opened higher on Thursday as benign inflation data cemented bets of a U.S. rate cut in September, while gains in insurer Admiral also added to the upbeat mood.
The pan-European STOXX 600 had risen 0.2% by 0710 GMT to trade near a two-week high and was on track for a third straight session of gains.
The insurance sector gained the most, boosted by a 10.3% rise in Admiral after the British motor and home insurer posted a better-than-expected 32% jump in first-half pre-tax profit.
Mild U.S. inflation readings this week have cemented hopes that the Federal reserve will lower borrowing costs in September for the first time in 4-1/2 years.
Data earlier in the day showed that Britain’s economy grew 0.6% in the second quarter, in line with economists’ expectations.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was trading flat.
Among other individual stocks, Adyen (AS:ADYEN) gained 6.4% after the Dutch payments company beat half-year core profit expectations.
Orsted (CSE:ORSTED) lost 7.2% after the world’s biggest offshore wind farm developer reported its second-quarter results.
