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London - European shares halted a three-day slide at the open on Wednesday, helped by a rise in retailers after estimate-beating German sales data and a strong showing by British supermarket Sainsbury's.
Shares in Sainsbury's rose 2.3% to the top of the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, after the group reported a better than expected performance in the Christmas quarter. Peer Tesco, due to report on Thursday, was up 2.2%.
Supporting sentiment in the broader market, German retail sales rose one percent in November, beating expectations for a flat reading, data from Germany's Federal Statistics office showed on Wednesday.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European shares was up 0.3% at 1 328.61 points at 08:05 GMT, after shedding 3.3% in the previous three sessions.
All eyes were on eurozone inflation data for December due at 10:00 GMT, expected to show the first annual fall in consumer prices since 2009. This was seen piling pressure on the European Central Bank to launch all-out quantitative easing at its next policy meeting on January 22.
