Europe open: Shares edge ahead in light trade; BP Castrol stake sale in focus

European shares opened slightly higher at the start of the shortened pre-Christmas session with BP in focus after the oil giant confirmed the $10bn sale of a 65% stake in its Castrol lubricants business.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 was up 0.02% at 0815 GMT with volumes expected to be lower.

Traders were assessing a surprise jump in third-quarter US GDP to 4.3% against the 3.3% expected by analysts.

“That’s the fastest pace in two years, driven by AI investment but also by strong corporate profits — up 4.4% quarter on quarter - and very strong consumer spending, with sales up 4.6% QoQ," said Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

"Naturally, price pressures also flared up, with PCE prices rising to 2.8% on the quarter from 2.1% previously."

“The good news is that expectations were for price pressures to rise slightly more — to 2.9% — keeping the Federal Reserve (Fed) hawks at bay. Meanwhile, weaker industrial production and softer consumer confidence helped balance out the euphoric growth and uncomfortably high inflation figures.”

In equity news, shares in BP gained as the oil giant confirmed the sale of a majority stake in its Castrol lubricants division to US infrastructure group Stonepeak in a deal that values the business at about $10bn including debt.

Sanofi stock was lower after the French firm said it has agreed to buy US hepatitis vaccine maker Dynavax in a $2.2bn deal.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com