Stoxx 600, FTSE, DAX, H&M earnings

Swedish clothing giant H&M on Thursday reported weaker-than-expected sales in the fiscal second quarter but pointed to an uptick in demand to kick-start the summer season.

Revenues at the world’s second-largest clothing retailer dipped year-on-year to 56.71 billion Swedish krona ($5.99 billion) in the three-month period to May. 31, slightly below the 57.01 billion Swedish krona forecast by LSEG analysts.

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— Chloe Taylor

Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC’s live blog covering all the action in European financial markets on Thursday, and the latest regional and global business news, data and earnings.

Futures data from IG suggests a positive start for European markets, with London’s FTSE looking set to open 0.2% lower at 8,699, Germany’s DAX down 0.3% at 23,509, France’s CAC 40 up slightly at 7,568 and Italy’s FTSE MIB flat at 49,421.

Global markets continue to monitor the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and NATO’s decision on Wednesday to hike defense spending from 2% to 5% of gross domestic product by 2035, a move which caused European defense companies to pop. Overnight, Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined, while U.S. stock futures were relatively unchanged.

— Holly Ellyatt

It’s a reasonably quiet day for European data releases, but we’re due to get the latest H&M earnings this morning, as well as Germany’s GfK consumer confidence figures.

— Holly Ellyatt