European stocks hover near 8-month tops

The sentiment surrounding the European markets appear to have turned cautious, with most major European markets consolidating near eight-month highs heading into the ECB monetary policy decision due later this Thursday.

Further, disappointing German factory orders data continues to dampen investors’ sentiment, while a fresh bout of selling interest seen in oil prices also weighs on the energy and resource stocks, thus, capping further upside in the region’s indices.

Meanwhile, Germany's DAX 30 index rises +0.19% to 10,694, while the UK's FTSE 100 index trades -0.27% at 6,861. Among the other indices, the French CAC 40 index edges +0.15% higher at 4,548, while the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index gains +0.15% to 3,084.