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UK's Auto Trader hits record high as annual profit jumps

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Telecom Italia drops after releasing quarterly results

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SAP down after peer Salesforce ( CRM ) misses estimates

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STOXX 600 up 0.2%

(Updated at 0812 GMT)

By Shubham Batra

May 30 (Reuters) - European shares recouped early losses

to edge higher on Thursday, supported by healthcare stocks, as

investors await more economic data from the euro zone that will

provide insights in the European Central Bank's interest rate

path.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2%, and

healthcare led the gains with a nearly 1% advance.

Technology shares and miners were the top

losers, falling 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

The mining sub-index slumped after global miner BHP Group ( BHP )

walked away from its $49 billion plan to take over

rival Anglo American.

German software company SAP led the losses for the

technology sector with a 3.1% slide after a big drop in peer

Salesforce ( CRM ), which missed Wall Street expectations due to

weak client spending on its cloud and enterprise business

products.

The main focus will be on the euro zone's economic sentiment

data, due at 0900 GMT, expected to see a slight improvement in

May, while April's unemployment rate due at the same time will

help gauge the economic strength of the region.

German 10-year bund yields hit six-month highs

earlier in the session, and were last at 2.667%, after a spike

in the previous session following weak U.S. Treasury auctions

and strong data that threw rate cuts in doubt.

"As markets start to price a more significant Fed

rate-cutting cycle, bond yields should fall in the months

ahead," said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer, UBS Global

Wealth Management.

Money markets currently see a 33 basis points of interest

rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve, with the first cut

expected only in December, while the ECB is expected to deliver

its first cut next week.

Remarks from Irish Central Bank Governor Gabriel Makhlouf

and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will be on investors'

radar later in the day, with key inflation readings from the

U.S. and euro zone due on Friday.

Meanwhile, Spain's European Union harmonised inflation rate

accelerated more than expected to 3.8% in the 12 months through

May, from 3.4% in the period through April.

Telecom Italia fell 8.1% to the bottom of the

benchmark index despite posting a 3% rise in its first-quarter

core profit after a strong performance from its Brazilian-listed

business.

Shares of UK's Auto Trader were the top gainers on

the STOXX 600, rising 10.7%, after the car retailer trounced

analysts' profit estimate.

Banco BPM gained 2.2% as the lender ruled out a

merger with rival Monte dei Paschi, and predicted a

wider consolidation of the Italian banking sector would not

happen before 2026.