The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks were higher on Thursday as a string of strong corporate results offset news that sales of electric cars across the European Union tumbled by over 11% last month. New figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) reported this morning that new car registrations fell for the first time this year in March, dropping by 5.2% to around one million units. However, investors cheered news from the likes of easyJet (EZJ.L) which boosted other airline stocks after it cut losses despite taking a £40m hit from the Middle East conflict. Traders will later be watching out for comments later today from Bank of England policymaker Megan Greene to gauge the outlook on interest rates. London’s benchmark index was 0.6% higher in early trade Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.2% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 0.6% into the green The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.3% Wall Street is set to open higher as S&P 500 futures (ES=F), Dow futures (YM=F) and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) were all in the green EasyJet cuts winter losses by more than £50m The pound (GBPUSD=X) was up 0.2% against the dollar at 1.2478 Follow along for...