European shares bounce a little as bond sell-off eases

[FRANKFURT] European shares staged a small bounce on Wednesday, helped by respite from a broad sell-off in bond markets and by strong results from Vivendi and SABMiller.

Investors were also digesting mixed economic data showing France's economy, the euro zone's second biggest, grew faster than expected in the first quarter while Germany, the bloc's No 1 economy, suffered a bigger-than-forecast slowdown.

Drinks group SABMiller rose 1.7 per cent after reporting full-year profit above analyst expectations as performance picked up in the latter half of the year, but saying trading would continue to be tough in its new financial year.

Media company Vivendi rose 2.8 per cent after posting higher first-quarter profit and saying it planned to buy the rest of pay-TV operator Canal Plus' SECP unit.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.6 per cent at 1,583.25 points by 0738 GMT, mirroring a fall in yields for major euro zone government bonds.

The FTSEurofirst fell 1.3 per cent in the previous session and is down 4.5 per cent from a 14-1/2 year high hit last month.

The index has started to recover in the past week, climbing around 4 per cent from a 2-1/2 month low hit on May 7. "I think people have started to do some bottom fishing already," Tradition broker, Mike Reuter, said. "I think between now and Friday you'll see the market up unless there is some major piece of news."

France posted its fastest economic growth rate for two years in the first three months of 2015 but Germany slowed from the robust pace it showed late last year, according to official data. "(This)should be enough to underpin a satisfactory growth rate in the euro zone as whole," Berenberg senior economist, Christian Schulz, said.

REUTERS