Stock indices traded higher on speculation that the Fed will delay its interest rate hike due to the recent weak U.S. economic data. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, the U.S. retail sales climbed 0.1% in September, missing expectations for a 0.2% decrease, after a flat reading in August. Retail sales excluding automobiles decreased 0.3% in September, missing forecasts of a 0.1% decline, after a 0.1% fall in August.

The European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council Member Ewald Nowotny said on Thursday that further stimulus measures are needed as the central bank's inflation target will be missed.

"In my view, it's quite obvious that additional sets of instruments are necessary," he said.

Nowotny added that additional instruments should include structural reforms and measures to stimulate demand.

The central bank's inflation target is 2%. The ECB expects the inflation to be 0.1% this year.

The ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio said in a speech in Hong Kong on Thursday that the exit from the zero interest rate policy may have spillover on other countries in the short terms.

"We live in an increasingly globalised world. The responsiveness of financial markets to monetary policy announcements is prima facie evidence that the exit from the zero lower bound may have potent spillovers on other countries in the short run. The medium-term impact of monetary policy spillovers is however much less clear-cut than frequently assumed in policy debates," he said.

Constancio added that the spillover from US monetary policy is larger than those from the Eurozone, due to "the dominance of the US dollar in global financial markets".

Current figures:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 6,325.36 +55.75 +0.89 %

DAX 10,042.42 +126.57 +1.28 %

CAC 40 4,659.59 +50.56 +1.10 %