By Sruthi Shenkar and Susan Mathew
(Reuters) – European shares rebounded on Wednesday with an upbeat balance sheet outlook from German software group SAP and strong quarterly sales of French luxury goods company LVMH helping to allay inflation fears.
After showing some weakness at the opening, the pan-European STOXX 600 index hit a two-week high and closed 0.7% higher.
The decline in banks caused the UK’s FTSE 100 index to rise by just 0.2%, while the credit-heavy Spanish and Italian indices lagged behind. JPMorgan kicked off its third-quarter balance sheet season in the US with better-than-expected results, but its shares and those in the broader banking sector fell. [.NPT]
SAP rose nearly 4% after raising its full-year forecast for the third time, following strong quarterly performance as more customers migrated their IT operations to the cloud.
French luxury goods company LVMH advanced 3.2% as sales in its fashion and leather division rose sharply in the third quarter, although overall revenue growth slowed in Asia and the United States after a stellar first-half performance.
Data showing that Chinese export growth unexpectedly accelerated in September also helped sentiment.
Meanwhile, US inflation data showed a sharp rise in consumer prices in September, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to begin cutting stimulus in November.
In London, the FTSE rose 0.16% to 7,141.82 points.
In Frankfurt, the DAX index rose 0.68% to 15,249.38 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 rose 0.75% to 6,597.38 points.
In Milan, the Ftse/Mib index fell 0.12% to 25,958.69 points.
In Madrid, the Ibex-35 index fell 0.61% to 8,881.40 points.
In Lisbon, the PSI20 index rose 0.56% to 5,593.36 points.
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