European Shares Inch Higher Ahead Of Christmas Holidays

(RTTNews) - European stocks bounced back from a six-week low on Wednesday, with consumer discretionary firms rising heading into the year-end holiday period.

The pan European STOXX 600 jumped 0.8 percent to 427.46 after declining 0.4 percent on Tuesday.

The German DAX rallied 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 index added 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up half a percent.

Adidas AG surged nearly 9 percent and Puma soared 10 percent on expectations of higher sales during the peak period for Christmas sales.

Philips rallied 3.2 percent after the Dutch health technology company provided an update on completed set of test results for first-generation DreamStation sleep therapy devises.

French utility Engie was marginally lower after warning of a hit to earnings from windfall levies and Belgian nuclear provisions.

Uniper added 3.6 percent after the European Commission conditionally approved the nationalization of the troubled gas giant.

Aurubis gained 1.3 percent. The copper smelter scrapped its existing dividend policy and announced 530 million euro of growth-oriented investments.

Ferrexpo rallied 1.7 percent after saying it was now receiving sufficient levels of power to bring one iron ore pelletizer line in central Ukraine back into operation.

Bunzl was little changed after saying that operating margins in 2022 would be slightly ahead of previous guidance and in line with 2021.

In economic releases, a survey showed German consumer sentiment is set to extend its recovery heading into the new year as a result of government measures to curb rising energy costs.

The forward-looking consumer sentiment index rose to -37.8 in January from -40.1 in December while economists had forecast a score of 38.0.

The U.K. budget deficit was the biggest for the month of November, data from the Office for National Statistics revealed earlier today.

Public sector net borrowing excluding banks increased by GBP 13.9 billion from the last year to GBP 22.0 billion. This was the biggest November borrowing since monthly records began in 1993.