Europe midday: Stocks pare gains as euro perks up
Stocks on the Continent are paring early gains, with traders keeping a close eye on US government bond yields as they wait for speeches from two top euro area economic officials in attendance at Thursday's joint IMF and Deutsche Bundesbank conference.
As of 1256 GMT, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was exactly flat at 397.98, albeit alongside a 0.32% or 41.54 point gain for the Dax to 13,224.74 and a dip of 0.04% or 1.44 points in the Cac-40 to 5,492.55.
In parallel, euro/dollar was again finding a bid, adding 0.52% to 1.2234, as the yield on the benchmark 10-year bund pared earlier gains to rise by two basis points to 0.58% while that on similarly-dated US Treasuries continued to grind higher.
However, given the recent sharp updraft in the euro, market participants were wary of any remarks from policymakers that might stoke renewed buying in the single currency.
Against that backdrop, investors were waiting on speeches from ECB governing council member Benoit Coeure (1430 GMT) and Banque de France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau (1730 GMT).
Earlier, German central bank chief Jens Weidmann sounded a warning against focusing too much on his country's elevated current account surprlus, saying it was the result of the ECB's "very accomodative" monetary policy.
He reportedly also argued against any need for expansionary fiscal policies given the country's positive output gap.
No major economic data releases were slated for release on Thursday in the single currency bloc.
For later in the day, investors were waiting on US housing starts data and the Philly Fed's regional manufacturing gauge, both of which were scheduled to be published at 1330 GMT.
There was also keen interest in whether an expected US House of Representatives vote, possibly as soon as on Thursday, to extend the federal government'd debt ceiling would pass.
In the corporate space, Airbus got a lift from an Emirates Airline order for 36 Airbus A380s valued at $16bn, including an option for 16 more jets of the same model.
Carrefour on the other hand lowered its guidance for profits in 2017 for the second time in just six months, despite which its shares were moving higher.