(Reuters) – European bourses rose in early trading on Wednesday, supported by some strong earnings reports, while investors took stock of Western sanctions against Moscow over its standoff with Ukraine.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index gained 0.8% by 0810 GMT, steadying after a sell-off this week pushed it briefly to a seven-month low on Tuesday.
Western nations and Japan punished Russia with new sanctions for ordering troops into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine, but raised hopes that a war on Europe’s eastern flank can be avoided.
Automakers led sectoral gains in Europe as Stellantis rose 5.2% after the carmaker said the margin on its adjusted operating profit climbed above its target in the first year after merger.
French yoghurt maker Danone added 4.3% after reporting stronger-than-expected sales growth in the last quarter of 2021.
Barclays gained 2.5% after its annual profit nearly trebled and the British lender returned 2.5 billion pounds to shareholders in 2021.
Germany-based online broker FlatexDEGIRO shot up 18.8% after a report the company is attracting interest from private equity firms.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
