By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks turned higher Thursday, with Barclays PLC pacing banking shares as the firm plans to outline its growth strategy, but shares of Rémy Cointreau SA struggled following a profit warning from the cognac maker.

The Stoxx Europe 600 recovered for a gain of 0.2% to 331.59, following an upswing for U.S. stock futures as weekly jobless claims also came in ahead of expectations.

Bank stocks were up, with Barclays higher by 3.7% after the company said it would provide an update on its plans to strengthen its business across the board, which includes a continuing cost-cutting program. The interim first-quarter update will be released on April 24.

In the banking group, shares of Deutsche Bank rose 1.9%, Société Générale picked up 1.1% and BNP Paribas gained 0.4%.

The pan-European index also reversed course and moved higher after U.S. financial industry heavyweight Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) posted above-anticipated earnings of $4.02 a share and Morgan Stanley's (MS) adjusted earnings of 68 cents a share outstripped expectations of 59 cents a share.

European equity markets were mostly lower earlier in the session as investors kept tabs on any developments from diplomatic talks between Ukraine, Russia, the European Union and the U.S. as they discuss Ukraine's growing political crisis and tensions with Russia. On Thursday, three pro-Russian protesters were killed and 13 wounded after a clash with Ukrainian authorities at a military installation in the southeastern city of Mariupol.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of the talks in Geneva accused the Kiev government of committing a "serious crime" for sending troops to eastern Ukraine. The talks were held ahead of a four-day weekend in European markets for Good Friday and for Monday following Easter Sunday.

Among those pacing decliners on the Stoxx 600 were Rémy Cointreau SA and Diageo PLC as the liquor makers posted sales declines. Rémy fell 3.2% after warning that annual operating profit could fall between 35% and 40%. Fourth-quarter sales fell nearly 19%, with contraction in the Rémy Martin brand largely because of "extravagant measures taken by the Chinese government," said Rémy, referring to China's order to officials to cut their lavish spending.

"This austerity policy is not going to decline. On the contrary, the government is stepping its actions in this area," Remy said during its quarterly conference call.

Shares of Britain's Diageo , whose brands include Smirnoff vodka and Guinness stout, fell 3.8% after the company said its third-quarter sales fell 1.3% on weakness in currencies and in emerging markets.

Also, shares of SAP AG were down 2.5% after the company's traditional business with software for installation on computers was hurt by currency impact. Overall profit and sales at SAP in the first quarter, however, rose.

In London, the FTSE 100 picked up 0.3% at 6,605.03 and Germany's DAX 30 rose 0.7% to 9,379.14. France's CAC 40 was up by 0.4% at 4,424.22, led by a 2.1% increase for Publicis Groupe SA as the advertising and public relations firm logged first-quarter sales growth.

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