PARIS (Reuters) - Europe's main stock markets were up on Thursday morning, buoyed by a string of corporate results, while strong retail sales in the United States fueled risk appetite on the belief that the US economy was resilient.

In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.83% to 7,361.44 around 09:15 GMT. In London, the FTSE 100 advanced by 0.32% and in Frankfurt, the Dax gained 0.5%.

Futures contracts on the main US indices are also pointing to further gains on Wall Street, following the release of better-than-expected US retail sales data, which some investors believe will take the sting out of a recession.

Weekly jobless claims and business activity figures for the Philadelphia region, due at 13:30 GMT, will be watched to confirm or refute this outlook.

In the meantime, optimism is back on the markets, especially as several major European groups have published better-than-expected results, raised their forecasts or announced share buyback plans.

In Paris, Pernod Ricard jumped 4.25% following strong growth in the first half; Orange gained 4.65%, the group having declared that it had achieved its objectives for 2022; Airbus advanced 2.68%, the manufacturer expecting adjusted earnings of 6.0 billion euros this year compared with 5.6 billion last year; Atos soared 6.73% on the strength of discussions with the European aircraft manufacturer for the sale of a stake in Evidian.

On the downside, Renault dropped 1.48%, as the automaker fell back into the red in 2022 due to impairments in Russia, while ADP lost -2.46% despite a return to profit in 2022 after two years of losses.

Elsewhere in Europe, results from banks Commerzbank (+8.15%) and Standard Chartered (+1.58%) were welcomed, while publications from Repsol (-2.93%) and Nestlé (-0.34%) disappointed.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)