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European oil & gas stocks were lifted by BP and Royal Dutch
Shell , while banking shares were also firmer,
underpinning the pan-European STOXX 600 index, which was up 0.1
percent.
Among the national markets, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent,
while Germany's DAX fell 0.2 percent, weighed down by
stocks including Hugo Boss and Evonik going ex-dividend.
European auto stocks were the biggest sectoral fallers, down
more than 1 percent. They were led lower by a 2.5 percent fall
in Daimler, which extended losses after its sites were searched
on Tuesday by German prosecutors in an emissions probe, and a 1
percent fall in Fiat Chrysler <FCHA.MI>.
Shares in the Italian carmaker recouped some of their earlier
losses after the U.S. government sued it over emissions.
"This case is likely to take a long time (VW settled in 16
months) and should weigh on FCA’s share price for some time as
the message regarding the execution of its 2018 plan is likely
to be overwhelmed," analysts at Barclays said in a note.
Miners were another weak spot with the basic resources index <.SXPP>
declining 0.7 percent following a dip in copper.
Mining giant Glencore <GLEN.L> was also 1.1 percent lower after
it said that it had made an informal approach to U.S. grains
trader Bunge <BG.N> to discuss "a possible consensual business
combination".
On the positive side, a well-received set of fourth-quarter
results from Dixons Carphone <DC.L> lifted its shares more than
4 percent, while Britvic's <BVIC.L> first-half update also
boosted its shares.
British retailer Kingfisher <KGF.L> was the biggest STOXX
faller, however, down more than 6 percent after a trading
update, while engineer Babcock <BAB.L> also fell 2.3 percent
after its full-year results.
Shares in aerospace groups Safran <SAF.PA> and Zodiac <ZODC.PA>,
whose merger plans have been criticized by some investors, were
suspended on Wednesday.
(Editing by Vikram Subhedar and Alexander Smith)
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