BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks are up in positive territory around noon on Wednesday, with traders building up positions, shrugging off concerns about Chinese real estate major Evergrande's financial woes, and looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy announcement.
The U.K.'s FTSE 100 is surging up 1.25% and France's CAC 40 is up 1.13%, while Germany's DAX is gaining 0.6% and Switzerland's SMI is edging up 0.13%. The pan European Stoxx 600 is climbing 0.65%. percent.
In the UK market, Entain Plc shares are surging up more than 7%, benefiting from an announcement from the company that it has recieved a $22.4 billion takeover proposal from U.S.-based DraftKings.
Antofagasta, HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered, Glencore, Flutter Entertainment, Anglo Americal Plc, Prudential, Barclays Group, Lloyds Banking Group and BHP are gaining 3 to 4.5%.
Kingfisher is down more than 2%, extending losses from the previous session. Severn Trent, AstraZeneca and Auto Trader Group are also notably lower.
In the French market, ArcelorMittal, Renault, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale, Technip and Valeo are up 3 to 4 percent. Kering, Vivendi, Accor, Publicis Groupe, Schneider Electric and Air France-KLM are also up sharply.
In Germany, Deutsche Bank, Daimler, Volkswagen, BMW, Allianz, HeidelbergCement, Munich RE, Bayer, Sartorius and Siemens are up 1.3 to 4%.
Data from Swiss National Bank showed Switzerland's current account surplus widened to CHF 10.51 billion in the June quarter of 2021, from CHF 3.21 billion in the same period last year.
The Swiss National Bank is scheduled to announce its rate decision on Thursday. The Bank of England's monetary policy announcement is also due tomorrow.
The Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting concludes this afternoon, and the central bank is scheduled to announce its policy at 2 PM ET.
Investors are looking ahead to the central bank's views on the likely timing of tapering of its bond-buying program, and the outlook on interest rates and inflation targets.
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