Europe stocks inch higher; Shell update boosts oils

 European stocks inched higher in early trade on Thursday, with energy shares gaining ground after Royal Dutch Shell posted a rise in quarterly results, while investors digested a raft of corporate results.

On the downside, Unilever shares fell 5.8 percent after the company's quarterly sales figures failed to impress the market.

At 0707 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,183.32 points, rising for the third consecutive session.

"The U.S. GDP figures expected this afternoon should not be too bad, so that helps corporate results for multinationals," said Yann Lepape, chief global macro strategist at Oddo Securities in Paris.