European Shares Erase Early Losses As Banks Rally

(RTTNews) - European stocks rose for a third straight session Wednesday, as investors took weak German GDP data in their stride and looked ahead to Fed Chair Janet Yellen's speech on Friday for clues on the path of U.S. interest-rate increases.

U.K. stocks have underperformed the broader European markets as Glencore reported a sharp drop in first-half profits and a report from the British Bankers Association (BBA) showed U.K. mortgage approvals slumped to an 18-month low in the month after the Brexit vote.

The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.4 percent in midday trading, reversing early losses. The benchmark index gained 0.9 percent on Tuesday after surveys of purchasing managers showed the euro zone's economic recovery gained traction in August.

The German DAX was gaining 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 index was up half a percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was losing 0.2 percent.

Shares of Nokia Corp rose over 1 percent. The Finnish network equipment maker and Ooredoo Myanmar have completed the roll-out and launch of the first 4G service in Myanmar.

Sweden's SCA soared 11 percent after unveiling plans to separately list its two divisions.

Banks were among the top gainers, with Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Barclays climbing 2-3 percent.

Glencore fell over 5 percent after reporting a 66 percent drop in first-half profit. The miner and commodity trader also agreed to sell a 30 percent stake in the Ernest Henry copper-gold mine in Australia to Evolution Mining for A$880 million.

Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto dropped 1-2 percent as copper prices hovered near six-week lows.

Energy stocks also drifted lower, with Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow Oil losing around 1 percent each while BP Plc traded marginally lower.

Shares of WPP Group soared 6 percent after the advertising giant reported better-than-expected headline pre-tax profit and increased revenues in its first half of the year.

Anglo-South African financial services company Old Mutual tumbled 3 percent and Investec lost over 4 percent, as the rand extended overnight losses against the dollar on reports that a police unit had ordered South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to report to a special police unit by the end of the week over allegations relating to a rogue tax unit.

Housebuilder Persimmon rose 2 percent to extend Tuesday's gains while The Berkeley Group Holdings advanced 2.5 percent and Taylor Wimpey added 2 percent.

In economic releases, German GDP grew 0.4 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, in line with the preliminary estimate, and slower than the 0.7 percent expansion seen in the March quarter, official data showed. Positive contributions to growth came from the balance of exports and imports.

A report from the British Bankers Association (BBA) showed that the number of mortgages approved in the U.K. dropped more than expected to 37,662 in July from 39,763 in June. This was the lowest since January 2015, when approvals totaled 36,649.