Reply #23: Europe regaining some ground

[EuroObserver]

Swiss SMI up 0.89% at 7962.76 in Zurich 14:41:42 CET
Xetra Dax 30 up 0.4% at 5,820.87 in Frankfurt 13:47 CET
CAC 40 up 0.5% at 5,026.67 in Paris 13:38 CET
FTSE 100 up 0.5% at 5,819.8 in mid-session trade in London 12:00 GMT



Xetra Dax 30 opens up 0.4% at 5,818.38 in Frankfurt
CAC 40 opens up 0.2% at 5,012.06 in Paris
FTSE 100 opens flat at 5,789.2 in London


European shares steady after sharp fall, oils help
LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - European stocks edged up on Wednesday, paring the previous session's sharp losses, as BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) tracked a rise in crude oil prices, but HBOS (HBOS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) dragged banks lower.
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By 0825 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst index <.FTEU3> of 300 leading shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,345.7 points, paring Tuesday's 1.4 percent slide which took the index to its lowest close in more than a week. "Most of the damage was done yesterday but there is no panic in the market. A lot of people are still playing the M&A story," said one trader. The index is off a 4-1/2-year high of 1,363.8 points struck on Monday, but still up about 6 percent so far this year.

Markets shrugged off a warning of slow growth from Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research), which triggered a sell-off in U.S. and Asian shares. Shares in the Internet company fell as much as 13 percent before recovering to end down 7 percent.
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Europe has economic data to monitor with the consumer in focus as UK January consumer credit data comes out at 0930 GMT and Eurozone January unemployment data are released at 1000 GMT. Eurozone February manufacturing PMI data is due at 0900 GMT. Investors are also looking out for data on U.S. manufacturing, construction spending, personal income and core inflation, with focus on core personal consumption expenditure data. ...more...