European Stock Futures Edge Higher; SocGen, Unicredit 1Q in Focus By Investing.com – Investing.com

European Stock Futures Edge Higher; SocGen, Unicredit 1Q in Focus By Investing.com – Investing.com

© Reuters.

By Peter Nurse 

Investing.com - European stock markets are seen edging higher at the open, continuing the positive tone from the previous session, as investors digest more corporate earnings ahead of a Bank of England meeting.

At 2:05 AM ET (0705 GMT), the contract in Germany traded 0.1% higher, in France climbed 0.1% and the contract in the U.K. rose 0.1%. 

The major European indices closed substantially higher Wednesday, with the gaining 2.1%, the 1.7% and the 1.4%, having their best day in nearly two months as resource stocks jumped and data showed Eurozone business activity picked up in April.

Given these hefty gains a further substantial move higher Thursday may prove difficult, but the overall tone remains positive as the first-quarter earnings season continues.

Societe Generale (OTC:) is likely to be in the spotlight Thursday after the French banking giant handily beat expectations in its first quarter, boosted by a strong performance in its global markets division. Italian banking giant Unicredit (MI:) also posted a respectable rebound, amassing its biggest ever cushion for payments to shareholders. 

Volkswagen (DE:), Europe's largest carmaker, raised its operating margin target for 2021, pointing to