European stocks opened slightly higher on Thursday, led by gains in materials stocks as investors prepared for key U.S. inflation data to gauge the outlook for global interest rate cuts.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2 percent by 0820 GMT, while Germany's benchmark DAX index hit a new record high, up 0.2 percent.
Investors will be focused on the US Federal Reserve's preferred measure of consumer prices, the January personal consumption expenditures data, along with the German CPI reading, ahead of the euro zone inflation data on Friday.
US PCE and German CPI data are due later today.
UK-based CRH forecast core earnings growth in 2024 after beating its 2023 earnings target. The building materials maker led gains on the STOXX 600 with a 5.6% jump.
Shares in Beiersdorf fell 3.8 percent after the Nivea maker forecast a slowdown in organic sales growth in 2024, after organic sales rose 10.8 percent last year.
Shares of German chip equipment maker Aixtron plunged 17.2 percent to the bottom of the STOXX 600 index despite expectations of further revenue growth in 2024.
