European stocks closed higher on Thursday with investors reacting to a slew of earnings and economic data, and the European Central

Europe's benchmark index was trading around record highs on Thursday, led by real estate and technology stocks, after the European Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter point as expected. The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.

European stocks were climbing on Thursday as the expectation that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates later helped investors shrug off below-par economic data. The ECB appears all-but-certain to lower borrowing costs when it announces its latest decision at 8.