Major stock market indexes in Europe extended their gains just an hour after trading started on the continent as investors focused on earnings reports from UBS and Novartis and company news. LVMH is set to report its results when markets close in France while the German SAP is due to announce its quarterly figures on Friday.

Germany's DAX jumped over 170 points or 1.29% at 10:09 am CET as Linde soared 3.59% at the same time after announcing a day earlier that it would be buying back up to $5 billion of its shares and increasing its dividend by 10%. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100, which traded 0.66% in the green at 10:03 am CET, was led higher by Compass Group. The contract foodservice company jumped 3.25% at 9:56 am CET after analysts raised its target price.

Furthermore, France's CAC 40 gained 0.83% at 10:12 am CET as industrial gasses company Air Liquide traded 2.17% higher at 9:59 am CET after it announced that it finished the construction of the largest proton exchange membrane electrolyzer in the world, doubling its low-carbon hydrogen production in Quebec.