The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.3%, but was set for its first weekly decline in six. Construction and materials shares were the top gainers on the index, rising 1.0%.
Shares in utilities dropped 0.6%. Europe's biggest home appliances maker Electrolux AB was the top gainer on the index, jumping 6.0%. The company earlier said that weaker demand had resulted in lower sales volumes in the first quarter.
Mercedes-Benz Group AG climbed 0.9% as the luxury car maker lifted its outlook for the annual adjusted return on sales of its vans division and said it expected to hit the higher end of its forecast for returns in the cars division. British bank NatWest posted better-than-expected profit for the first three months as income soared 37%. However, the bank's shares dropped 6.4% in early trade.
All eyes will be on the euro zone's GDP data, due at 0900 GMT, which is expected to show that growth in the region's economies slowed in the first quarter to 1.4%, from 1.8% a year ago. However, on a quarterly basis, it registered a growth of 0.2%.
(Reporting by Shubham Batra; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
