At 8:11 a.m., the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent at 946.05 points. The index, which slumped 45 percent in 2008, has gained 13 percent this year and is up 46 percent since a lifetime low in March.

"Overall market sentiment is pretty positive," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities.

"What is very surprising today is that the German economy is growing and that's a big help for the market, but the most important thing today is going to be the retail sales figures in the United States."

U.S. retail sales data for July is due at 1:30 p.m. Britis time.

German gross domestic product rose unexpectedly by 0.3 percent in the second quarter, bringing an end to the country's deepest recession since World War Two and boosting hopes of recovery in the broader euro-zone.

Banks were among the top gainers, with Standard Chartered , Barclays , Lloyds , Royal Bank of Scotland , BNP Paribas and Societe Generale gaining 0.5-3.7 percent.

Anheuser-Busch InBev fell 2.1 percent after it said that the second half of the year would be significantly weaker. It reported second-quarter profit above analyst forecasts.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash)