European shares edge higher

London - A leading European share index edged off 1-month lows in cautious trading on Thursday, led by Germany's largest airline Lufthansa after its profits beat expectations.

Lufthansa rose 6.7% to the top of the FTSEurofirst 300 index after it said it was confident of reaching goals set out under a wide-ranging restructuring programme and restored its dividend payout.

The FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.1% at 1 309.11 points by 08:11 GMT after closing 1.1% lower to a one-month low in the previous session, when it slipped below the 50% retracement of a rally from February 4 to 25.

It has fallen more than 3% since March 6.

Latest data from China giving fresh signs of the slowdown in economic growth in the world's second-largest economy kept investors jittery and mad major stock indexes vulnerable to further sell-offs, analysts said.

China's industrial output growth came in below forecasts for the combined January/February period, with retail sales also weaker than expected.

Some analysts said the figures pointed to a 7% economic growth this year, against a target of 7.5%.