London — Upbeat economic news helped push European stock markets higher on Thursday, while stronger-than-expected data in Britain drove sterling to an 11-month high ahead of a Bank of England monetary policy decision. European equity markets gave up early falls to nudge into positive territory, with stock markets in Italy and France 0.2% to 0.3% higher. Britain’s blue-chip FTSE was also marginally higher, although Germany’s main stock index was a touch lower. "After some symbolic moves in US markets, we have taken a break but some European markets, such as Italy, are doing really well thanks to a plethora of good news," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index. On Thursday, data showed Italy’s service sector posted its fastest growth for a decade in July, boosting prospects for economic output in the eurozone’s third-largest economy. Other data showed retail sales in the eurozone increased by 0.5% in June on the month, well above market expectations of a 0.1% rise. Shar...
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