European stocks were slightly higher Thursday, with shares of major airlines rallying in afternoon trade, after EU leaders granted the U.K. a further extension to the date of Brexit.
European markets
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally up around 0.1%, with most sectors and major bourses in positive territory.
Travel and leisure stocks were among the outperformers, rising more than 1% following the EU's offer to push back the U.K.'s departure from the bloc until Oct. 31. EasyJet, Tui and IAG were the top performers in the sector, while easyJet also led the Stoxx 600, rising almost 9%.
Looking at individual stocks, luxury brand LVMH surged after the company posted robust first-quarter sales Wednesday evening, with revenues up more than 16%. Shares of the Paris-listed firm advanced more than 4% on the news.
At the other end of the scale, shares of Italian manufacturer Prysmian tumbled 8%. It comes after Reuters reported the company would review its 2018 earnings amid long-term technical difficulties and damage claims.
Slowdown worries
Still, gains were capped by lingering worries about slowing global economic growth and trade protectionism. On Wall Street, stocks were marginally higher in morning trade.
The European Central Bank (ECB) kept its loose monetary policy stance and warned that threats to world economic growth remained. The central bank has already delayed its first post-crisis interest rate hike and President Mario Draghi raised the prospect of further supportive policy measures if a slowdown in the euro zone economy persisted.
Meanwhile, minutes from the latest meeting of policymakers at the Federal Reserve showed they had agreed to be patient about any changes to interest rate policy.