European shares dipped in early trading on Thursday, taking a breather following the previous session's sharp gains, as investors awaited to see whether the European Central Bank will unveil further immediate measures to avoid deflation.

At 0704 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,382.55 points, retreating from a two-month high hit in the previous session.

Shares in Standard Life jumped 8.8 percent after it agreed to sell its Canadian operations for about C$4 billion ($3.7 billion) in cash to Manulife Financial Corp.