On Thursday, German shares led the gains among European stocks at the open as Siemens jumped after posting an upbeat quarterly profit. At the same time, i

Germany’s DAX index climbed 0.9 per cent, while the continent-wide STOXX 600 index rose 0.3 per cent by 0810 GMT.

Siemens leapt 7.2 per cent after the engineering and technology company said the comany’s factory hardware and software continued to witness robust demand.

The European industrial goods index increased by 0.8 per cent.

UK’s finance minister Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce expenditure cuts and tax hikes in the Autumn Statement later in the day. Investors are waiting for the UK budget, which is likely to restore confidence in Britain’s economy.