By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European stocks ended a choppy day on an upbeat note on Wednesday, getting a late-session boost from lower oil prices and solid U.S. service-sector data.

Markets had struggled for direction earlier in the day, following a round of economic reports that offered no new insights into the economic health of the eurozone, ahead of Thursday's meeting of the European Central Bank.

Oil boost: But in the afternoon, markets moved out of their flatline territory and ended firmly higher after oil prices slumped (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid) on the back of disappointing supply data. Crude oil for April (CLJ5) dropped 1.2% to $49.92. Lower oil prices can be good for companies and the economy as it means consumers get more money to spend on other things.

Additionally, a stronger-than-expected U.S. ISM nonmanufacturing report also pleased investors (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-service-sector-saw-brisk-growth-in-february-2015-03-04). U.S. stocks, however, traded lower (http://www.marketwatch.com/storyno-meta-for-guid), hit by the ADP private-sector jobs report that fell short of estimate

Europe data: Among the clutch of data from the eurozone, retail sales climbed 1.1% in January (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/eurozone-retail-sales-surge-in-january-2015-03-04) from December, according to the European Commission's statistics agency. The rise was more than the 0.4% reading analysts polled by FactSet had expected. Sales were up 3.7% from the year-earlier period, the fastest pace of growth since August 2005.

Before that, data firm Markit said the final February reading of its eurozone composite index came in at 53.3, a touch lower than an initial estimate of 53.5. But the reading still indicated expansion in business activity.

Investors will watch for comments from the European Central Bank on Thursday about its view of the eurozone economy, and for any further updates about its massive asset-purchase program. Read: 5 things for investors to know about the ECB's QE (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/5-things-for-investors-to-know-about-the-ecbs-qe-ahead-of-thursdays-meeting-2015-03-04)

Markets: The Stoxx Europe 600 jumped 0.8% to close at 390.61, after darting between small gains and losses earlier in the day. The pan-European index on Tuesday fell 0.9% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-rise-on-signs-of-economic-recovery-2015-03-03), pulling back from gains in recent sessions that have pushed it to its strongest levels since 2007.

Germany's DAX 30 ended 1% higher at 11,390.38, while France's CAC 40 gained 1% to 4,917.35.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 6,919.24 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/itv-pops-higher-fresnillo-slide-in-london-trade-2015-03-04), with the gain capped by a 8.5% drop in shares of precious metal miner Fresnillo PLC following its financial results (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fresnillo-net-profit-slumps-on-lower-metals-prices-2015-03-04).

The pound (GBPUSD) slipped to $1.5260 after Markit and CIPS said their U.K. services PMI came in at 56.7 in February, down from 57.2 in January and missing expectations of 57.5 from analysts in a FactSet survey. The sterling traded at $1.5357 ahead of the report, and at $1.5361 late Tuesday in New York.

In the U.S., markets opened lower after data showed fewer-than-expected private-sector jobs were added to the economy in February (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/private-sector-adds-212000-jobs-in-february-adp-2015-03-04-8912123).

Movers and shakers: Shares of Henkel AG gave up 0.8% after the German manufacturing company reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/henkel-profit-falls-on-restructuring-charge-2015-03-04-2485457).

Shares of Havas SA dropped 3.4% after Kepler Cheuvreux cut the public relations firm to reduce from hold.

Standard Chartered PLC added 5.1% after the bank said it plans to conserve capital after a 37% drop in 2014 net profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/standard-chartered-net-down-37-to-cut-assets-2015-03-04) to $2.51 billion.

ITV PLC climbed 5.7%. The broadcaster said it would return 250 million pounds ($384.5 million) to shareholders (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/itv-returns-cash-to-shareholders-as-profit-rises-2015-03-04) through a special dividend of 6.25 pence a share.

Deutsche Telekom AG gained 2.4% after Barclays said the company remains its top pick within the telecom sector.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires