By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) — European stock markets moved solidly higher on Thursday, boosted by upbeat Chinese trade data and well-received earnings reports from some of the region’s prominent firms. The Stoxx Europe 600 index XX:SXXP +0.41% gained 0.4% to 304.05, after closing in the red for a second straight day on Wednesday. Posting the biggest gain in the index, Commerzbank AG DE:CBK +12.22% rallied 13% after a well-received second-quarter earnings report, which analysts said pointed to signs of improvement at the German bank. Shares of Aviva PLC UK:AV +7.23% jumped 6.6% after the insurance firm said it swung to a profit in the first half of the year. Novo Nordisk AS DK:NOVOB +0.73% NVO +0.11% , the world’s largest insulin maker, picked up 1.2% after the company lifted its full-year guidance after a forecast-beating second quarter. Nestle SA CH:NESN -2.40% lost 2.4% after the maker of Kit Kat chocolate bars indicated its facing challenges in both emerging and developed markets. More broadly, most country-specific indexes were on the rise as investors welcomed an improvement in Chinese trade data. Both imports and exports rose in July, marking a sharp recovery from the previous month. Mining firms, which tend to rise on growth indications from China because of the country’s major use of natural resources, advanced after the data. Shares of Glencore Xstrata PLC UK:GLEN +2.51% GLCNF -1.09% rose 2.7%, Anglo American PLC UK:AAL +3.44% picked up 3.2% and BHP Billiton PLC UK:BLT +2.11% BHP -0.36% AU:BHP +1.17% added 1.8%. Metals prices were higher across the board. The gains for miners helped lift the U.K. FTSE 100 index UK:UKX +0.40% 0.4% to 6,534.73. Trade data was also in the spotlight in Germany, where numbers showed exports slightly recovered in June from May’s sharp decline. Exports of goods, as opposed to services, rose 0.6% in June from May, but declined 2.1% from June 2012. “While second quarter was affected by one-off factors (a rebound from weather effects in first quarter), the current strong momentum in the German economy puts some upward risks on our forecast of 0.2% growth for the year as a whole. Still, we expect a moderation in growth towards potential in the second half and growth of around 1.4% next year,� analysts at Société Générale said in a note. The German DAX 30 index DX:DAX +0.73% climbed 0.8% to 8,328.23. Shares of Deutsche Telekom AG DE:DTE +6.29% rallied 6.2% after its partly-owned U.S. subsidiary T-Mobile said its customer base grew strongly for the first time in more than four years. Shares of Adidas AG DE:ADS -1.57% , off 1.1%, weighed on the index after the sportswear maker lowered its sales guidance due to lackluster European sales. In France, the CAC 40 index FR:PX1 +0.46% traded 0.6% higher at 4,063.63. Outside the major indexes, shares of Delhaize Group BE:DELB +8.07% jumped 7.7% after the food retailer posted second-quarter profit ahead of analyst expectations and increased its full-year profit guidance. Shares of KBC Group NV BE:KBC +6.51% rallied 6.3% after the Belgian bank said it swung to a second-quarter net profit of 517 million euros ($690 million) from a loss of 539 million in the year-ago period. Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.

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