This was CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday as global markets focused on the inflation outlook.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally ended up 0.43% after starting the day in negative territory.

The majority of major bourses and sectors also closed in the green, with mining stocks leading gains, up 1.46%, while retail fell 0.82%.

Shares in British on-the-go food retailer Greggs closed down 15.8% after sales came in below analyst expectations. Meanwhile, Danish vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic rose 4.8% after the company announced the initiation of a planned share buy-back program of up to DKK 150 million ($20.7 million).

The inflation outlook in the U.S., Asia and Europe takes center stage this week, with markets being buffeted by concerns about persistent inflationary pressures.

Asia-Pacific markets tumbled in a choppy session overnight as investors worried the U.S. Federal Reserve would delay policy easing due to inflation worries, while China's entrenched consumer disinflation dented sentiment.

Minutes released from the Fed's December meeting showed nearly all the FOMC's members believed upside risks to the inflation outlook had increased, adding to investors' concerns that there may be fewer rate cuts than expected this year.

U.S. financial markets are closed Thursday in honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died in late December at age 100. A state funeral for the country's 39th president is taking place today.

European stocks close higher

European markets closed higher Thursday even as global investors remained focused on the inflation outlook.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index provisionally closed up 0.43%, with financial services and mining stocks leading gains.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed up 0.83%, France's CAC added 0.51% and Italy's FTSE MIB gained 0.59%. Germany's DAX, meanwhile, dipped 0.05%.

— Karen Gilchrist

Stocks on the move: Maersk down 5.8%, Bavarian Nordic up 5%

Shares of Denmark's Moller-Maersk fell 5.8% amid a wider sell-off in shipping stocks after a tentative labor deal was stuck by U.S. dockworkers, staving off a potential strike.

On the other end, Danish vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic rose 4.8% after the company announced the initiation of a planned share buy-back program of up to DKK 150 million ($20.7 million).

— Karen Gilchrist

Markets set to be 'quite shaky' in 2025, Kepler Cheuvreux' Ferreira says

Philippe Ferreira, deputy head of economics and cross-asset strategy at Kepler Cheuvreux, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Thursday that 2025 is expected to be "quite tough" for global markets, suggesting that the start of the year has already proven difficult.

Pressure was coming from the U.S. including through uncertainty about potential tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump could introduce, Ferreira said. Local factors such as political instability in France were exacerbating this, he noted.

"We think the markets will be quite shaky in 25 but we think the trend will remain higher," Ferreira said.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Marks and Spencer's shares pull back even as retailer posts 9% rise in food sales

Marks and Spencer's on Thursday said like-for-like food sales rose 8.9% in the 13 weeks to the end of December, while clothing, home and beauty added 1.9% over the same period.

"This was another good Christmas for M&S," chief executive Stuart Machin said in a statement. "Sales records were broken across the business, with Food recording its biggest day and Clothing, Home & Beauty online its biggest week, but we're not complacent — as a growth business it's our job to break records."

The external environment however would remain challenging, Machin warned, pointing to cost and economic headwinds, but also noted that there was much in the group's control.

The results beat a company compiled analyst consensus, Reuters reported. Shares however pulled back, last trading around 7% lower at 11:25 a.m. London time.

— Sophie Kiderlin

B&M shares drop 14% after retailer lowers top end of annual profit forecast

Shares in B&M European dropped 13% on Thursday after the retailer lowered the top end of its annual profit forecast as U.K. sales dropped in the company's third fiscal quarter.

B&M said that like-for-like revenue growth in the U.K. was down 2.8% between Sept. 29, 2024, and Dec. 28, 2024. It noted positive like-for-like growth in December and said that trend had continued into January.

The retailer said it was narrowing its profit growth guidance and was now expecting group adjusted EBITDA to come in between £620 million ($763 million) and £650 million, from a previous estimate of £620 million to £660 million.

Shares in B&M were down 13.97% at 10:22 a.m. London time, trading at their lowest level since November 2022, according to LSEG data.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Greggs tumbles 10%

Shares in British on-the-go food retailer Greggs fell as much as 10% Thursday, dropping to levels last seen in November 2023 according to LSEG data.

The baker on Thursday said sales rose 11.3% to top £2 billion ($2.46 billion) for the first time in 2024, which however was below analyst expectations. Greggs also reported a 2.5% rise in like-for-like sales in the fourth quarter of 2024, citing more muted high street footfall.

At 9:45 a.m. London time, shares were down 9.9%.

— Sophie Kiderlin

Volkswagen brand's vehicle deliveries down 1.4% in 2024

Vehicle deliveries from the Volkswagen brand came to around 4.8 million in 2024, 1.4% less than in the previous year, the company said Thursday.

"Around the globe, 2024 was a difficult year with sluggish economic activity, political challenges and intense competition – particularly in China," Martin Sander, Volkswagen board member for sales, marketing and after sales, said in a statement.

Deliveries in China tumbled by 8.3% year-on-year to 2,198,900, according to data from Volkswagen. In Europe, deliveries pulled back 1.7%, while both South and North America saw growth of 21.1% and 18.4% respectively.

Volkswagen also said that it had delivered 383,100 battery electric vehicles in 2024.

— Sophie Kiderlin

European markets open lower

European markets opened lower on Thursday, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index falling 0.37% shortly after trading began.

Retail and bank stocks led declines, down around 1% and 0.8%, respectively. Financial services and health care were the only sectors to inch higher.

Major regional bourses had a muted start to the day, with the U.K.'s FTSE 100 trading near the flatline while the German DAX fell 0.29% and France's CAC 40 pulled back by 0.41%.

— Sophie Kiderlin

On-the-go food retailer Greggs posts 2.5% rise in like-for-like fourth quarter sales

British baker and on-the-go food retailer Greggs on Thursday reported that like-for-like sales rose 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024, which it said was reflective of a "more subdued High Street footfall."

"Trading performance reflected a well publicised more challenging market backdrop in the second half of 2024," the company noted in a trading update.

Across the full year 2024, Greggs' total sales rose above £2 billion ($2.45 billion) for the first time, the company said, climbing 11.3%. That, however, fell short of expectations, with analysts having forecast a 12.2% increase, according to LSEG data.

Looking ahead, the company said higher employment costs are expected to result in further cost inflation in 2025, but suggested it was confident about the progress it could make this year.

— Sophie Kiderlin

German imports fall 3.3%, exports rise 2.1% from previous month in November

German imports pulled back 3.3%, while exports added 2.1% from the previous month in November, the country's statistics office Destatis said Thursday.

Calendar and seasonally adjusted exports totaled 127.3 billion euros ($131.2 billion), with imports — adjusted for the same factors — amounting to 107.6 billion euros. That put Germany's foreign trade balance at a 19.7 billion euro surplus.

The U.S. was Germany's biggest trading partner for exports, while most imports came from China, the statistics office said.

— Sophie Kiderlin

European markets: Here are the opening calls

European markets are expected to open in positive territory Thursday.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 13 points higher at 8,256, Germany's DAX up 44 points at 20,361, France's CAC up 8 points at 7,454 and Italy's FTSE MIB up 2 points at 35,210, according to data from IG.

Earnings releases include trading statements from M&S, Tesco and Greggs. German trade balance data for November is due to be released Thursday.

— Holly Ellyatt

China’s consumer inflation slows further in December, stoking deflation worries

China's consumer price inflation in December slipped to 0.1% year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday, stoking deflation concerns.

Growth in headline inflation was in line with Reuters estimates, but less than the 0.2% rise in November. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.4% year on year compared with 0.3% rise in the previous month, the data showed.

On a month-on-month basis, China's CPI came in flat, compared with the 0.6% decline in the prior month.

Food prices fell by 0.6% month on month as a result of conducive weather conditions, official statistics showed. The prices of fresh vegetables and fruits fell 2.4% and 1%, respectively. Prices of pork, which makes up a significant portion of the CPI basket, fell 2.1%.

— Lee Ying Shan

CNBC Pro: Beyond Tencent: Goldman refreshes its list of top Asian stocks — giving one nearly 50% upside

Goldman Sachs is cautious on Chinese tech behemoth Tencent Holdings, removing it from its Asia-Pacific "conviction list" of top picks.

The investment bank also removed several other stocks from the list and added others, including one it gives nearly 50% upside.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

CNBC Pro: Bernstein says Taiwanese chip supplier to benefit in 2026

MediaTek, the Taiwanese semiconductor company collaborating with Nvidia on its newly announced small AI supercomputer, is expected to see significant financial benefits from the partnership starting in 2026, according to Bernstein.

Nvidia's desktop supercomputer, priced starting at $3,000, is set to launch in May 2025.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Ganesh Rao

Fed minutes show officials worried about inflation impact from Trump policies

A summary of the Fed's December meeting showed central bank officials were concerned about how policies from the incoming Trump administration could impact inflation.

"Almost all participants judged that upside risks to the inflation outlook had increased," the minutes said. "In discussing the outlook for monetary policy, participants indicated that the Committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing."

— Fred Imbert