BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - European stocks rebounded on Wednesday, with beaten-down tech stocks bouncing back after ASML Holding raised its financial targets.
In economic releases, the European Commission said that its economic sentiment indicator, an aggregate measure of business and consumer confidence, rose to 117.8 in September from 117.6 in August, beating forecasts for a small decline.
Elsewhere, U.K. shop prices declined at a slower pace in September, data published by the British Retail Consortium revealed.
The shop price index dropped 0.5 percent on a yearly basis in September after easing 0.8 percent in August.
The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 0.9 percent to 456.53 after declining 2.2 percent in the previous session in its biggest percentage decline since mid-July.
The German DAX and France's CAC 40 index both rose about 1 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.9 percent.
Chip equipment maker ASML Holding NV gained 2 percent after hiking its financial forecasts. ASM International shares jumped almost 7 percent.
Wm Morrison Supermarkets gained 1.3 percent in London as the Takeover Panel established an auction procedure for the company.
Drug maker AstraZeneca jumped 2.4 percent. The company said its newly acquired Alexion division will purchase the remaining equity in peer Caelum Biosciences in a deal that could be worth up to $500m.
Clothing retailer Next added 2.4 percent. The company reported a swing to a pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022 and raised its full-year profit outlook for the fourth time in six months.
TotalEnergies, BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell were moving lower as oil extended declines on industry data showing U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories unexpectedly rose last week.
Royal Mail plunged 5.7 percent after UBS downgraded the stock to 'sell' from 'buy'.
Air France KLM shares fell 2.4 percent in Paris. The airline is beginning to see some recovery in business travel on domestic routes but premium travel remains far below pre-crisis levels, CEO Anne Rigail said while speaking at a ceremony to mark the arrival of the first of 60 Airbus A220-300 jets.
GEA Group shares rallied 3.2 percent after the German food industry system supplier presented its 'Mission 26' strategy in London as part of its Capital Markets Day.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2021 AFX News
