European equities were expected to open higher Thursday morning as investors monitor earnings and key data releases.

The FTSE 100 is seen up by 19 points at 7,383; the DAX is set to open higher by 35 points at 13,020 and the CAC 40 is expected to open up by 16 points at 5,322, according to IG.

In Asia, markets traded higher, shrugging off losses from Wall Street, partially boosted by higher oil prices after the decline seen on Wednesday. Brent was up 0.23 percent trading at $62.01 a barrel and WTI rose 0.11 percent at $55.39 a barrel at about 06:15 London time. This after a U.S. government agency report showed that the build in crude stockpiles was higher than what markets were anticipating.

Back in Europe, investors will monitor results with Sodexo, Vivendi, British Land, Royal Mail and 3i Group reporting Thursday morning.

In other corporate news, the U.S. fund Cerberus has taken a 3 percent stake in the German lender Deutsche Bank, becoming one of its largest shareholders.

In terms of data, there will be retail sales numbers out in the U.K. at 9:30 a.m. London time and euro zone core inflation figures due at 10:00 a.m. London time.