Europe defense stocks extend gains, jumping 1.4% after NATO hikes spending target

Defense stocks continue rally

Europe's Stoxx Aerospace and Defense index was last seen trading 1.4% higher, the day after NATO announced its members had committed to raising their defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product.

Top movers in the sector on Thursday were Italian aerospace firm Avio and Swedish defense contractor MilDef, both up by around 5%, and British defense tech firm QinetiQ, which gained 3.5%.

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British Pound reaches highest level since October 2021

The British Pound has strengthened against the U.S. dollar to reach $1.3735, its highest level since October 2021.

Data pointing to a sticky inflation environment in the country on June 18 has since pushed Sterling up by 2.4%.

— Ganesh Rao

European stocks open higher

We're around 10 minutes into Thursday's trading session, and stocks are edging higher.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was last seen trading around 0.4% higher, with most sectors in positive territory.

Germany's DAX is leading gains among major bourses, with the index adding around 0.5%.

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Shell says it has not been 'actively considering' BP bid

Shell on Thursday stressed it has no immediate intention of putting a bid in for embattled British peer BP, after a Wall Street Journal report of takeover talks between the two oil majors.

“In response to recent media speculation Shell wishes to clarify that it has not been actively considering making an offer for BP and confirms it has not made an approach to, and no talks have taken place with, BP with regards to a possible offer,” Shell said in a statement.

BP shares had surged more than 10% in the previous session after the Wall Street Journal reported early talks toward the company's acquisition by Shell.

“This is further market speculation. No talks are taking place,” a Shell spokesperson told CNBC on Wednesday in an initial response.

Investors have been waiting to see whether Shell — or other oil giants such as Chevron, Exxon Mobil or the United Arab Emirates' Adnoc — would leap to take over BP, which has been underperforming its rivals in recent years and battled to find a strategic direction amid the green energy transition.

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H&M posts weaker-than-expected quarterly sales

Swedish clothing giant H&M on Thursday reported weaker-than-expected sales in the fiscal second quarter but pointed to an uptick in demand to kick-start the summer season.

Revenues at the world's second-largest clothing retailer dipped year-on-year to 56.71 billion Swedish krona ($5.99 billion) in the three-month period to May. 31, slightly below the 57.01 billion Swedish krona forecast by LSEG analysts.

Read more here.

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Here are the opening calls

Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC's live blog covering all the action in European financial markets on Thursday, and the latest regional and global business news, data and earnings.

Futures data from IG suggests a positive start for European markets, with London's FTSE looking set to open 0.2% lower at 8,699, Germany's DAX down 0.3% at 23,509, France's CAC 40 up slightly at 7,568 and Italy's FTSE MIB flat at 49,421.

Global markets continue to monitor the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and NATO's decision on Wednesday to hike defense spending from 2% to 5% of gross domestic product by 2035, a move which caused European defense companies to pop. Overnight, Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined, while U.S. stock futures were relatively unchanged.

What to keep an eye on today

It's a reasonably quiet day for European data releases, but we're due to get the latest H&M earnings this morning, as well as Germany's GfK consumer confidence figures.