LONDON: Europe's stock markets rose Thursday as investors took their cue from a strong Wall Street performance ahead of fresh US data, dealers said.

London gained 0.5 percent nearing midday, while Frankfurt also won 0.5 percent and Paris gained 1.0 percent in early afternoon deals.

Oil prices eased, after spiking the previous day on news of shrinking US crude stockpiles as storms hammered output last week from the Gulf of Mexico.

Wall Street had rebounded Wednesday on buoyant crude prices and growing economic confidence, despite the ongoing wave of Covid-19 infections.

Analysts remain largely optimistic that the global economy will continue to recover as it slowly emerges from the pandemic, despite recent signs of turbulence.

   **- 'Bullish environment' -**

"Overall, the environment remains bullish for stocks," said ActivTrades analyst Pierre Veyret.

Veyret said traders were looking ahead to US jobless claims and retail sales updates due later in the day.

In Asia, stock markets struggled to recover from the previous day's sell-off, with Hong Kong dragged by further losses in casinos as well as tech firms after Chinese government crackdowns on the sectors.

Sentiment in the region was hit also by concerns about the spreading Delta coronavirus variant and its impact on the economic rebound.

In addition, traders are keeping tabs on Chinese property developer Evergrande, which is drowning in a sea of debt that could see it crash into a bankruptcy observers fear could have an impact far and wide.

Hong Kong's main stocks index led Asia's losses, extending its streak to a fourth straight day, with Macau casinos back in the spotlight after Wednesday's crash fuelled by city authorities' plans to tighten its control of the industry.

Trillions of dollars were wiped off the valuations of the six listed firms in reaction to the proposals, which include putting a government representative on their boards.

The announcement fanned concerns that the days of multi-billion-dollar revenues are gone in Macau, which before the pandemic raked in more in a week than Las Vegas did in a month.

Tech firms, which are high on officials' list of targets, also extended a long-running sell-off in Hong Kong with market heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent again in the red.