Europe: Stocks steady on upbeat earnings

[BENGALURU] European stocks steadied on Wednesday as encouraging earnings reports from some of Europe's biggest banks and companies helped investors look past worries about China's regulatory crackdown that kept markets on edge this week.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose 0.1 per cent by 7.16am GMT, inching up after two sessions of declines.

German lender Deutsche Bank rose 3.9 per cent after it delivered a better-than-expected quarterly profit, while UK's Barclays jumped 4 per cent as it announced resumption of shareholder payouts after beating first-half profit expectations.

The tech sector was propped up by a 4.1 per cent rise in French consulting and IT services provider Capgemini after it raised its 2021 outlook.

Wizz Air added 4.4 per cent after it forecast capacity to ramp up to between 90 per cent and 100 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in July and August.

Among decliners, Dutch semiconductor supplier ASM International was down 2.9 per cent despite forecasting revenue growth in the next quarters.

REUTERS