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European shares propped up by gains in Credit Agricole, Glencore

Reuters
Traders work at their desks in front of the German share price index, DAX board, at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, February 16, 2016. REUTERS/Staff/remote

By Sudip Kar-Gupta

LONDON (Reuters) - European stock markets resumed their recovery on Wednesday, boosted by a rise in the shares of French bank Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA) and miner Glencore (GLEN.L).

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index was up 1.2 percent in early session trading.

The index slipped 0.4 percent the previous day and remains down around 10 percent since the start of 2016 due to persistent concerns about a global slowdown and weak commodity prices.

But the FTSEurofirst has staged a recovery recently, rising 6 percent in the two sessions before Tuesday, partly on a recovery in banking shares.

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"Overall sentiment is neutral to positive, with the momentum clearly pointing to the upside," said City of London Markets Limited trader Markus Huber.

Credit Agricole was among the best performers, rising 7.2 percent after it beat expectations with its results. The French bank also promised stable investor returns and a solid capital base in the future as it outlined plans to simplify its much-criticised ownership structure.

"Overall it's been a good quarter for them. It looks like they have enough capital and the new ownership structure should be clearer and less convoluted than before," said Clairinvest fund manager Ion-Marc Valahu, who added that he had recently bought into the euro zone banking index (.SX7E).

British miner Glencore (GLEN.L) climbed after announcing the refinancing of its debt, while Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA) surged 8.8 percent after reporting higher revenues and earnings.

Shares in Swedish heating technology company Nibe Industrier (NIBEb.ST) jumped 13 percent higher after its results beat market expectations.

However, shares in French pen maker Bic (BICP.PA) slumped after it announced the departure of its chief executive and posted results below market forecasts.

According to Thomson Reuters StarMine data, 52 percent of the companies on the European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) have met or beaten market expectations with their fourth-quarter results so far, while 48 percent have missed those expectations.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Smout and Atul Prakash; Editing by Hugh Lawson)