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London - European stock markets rallied on Wednesday, rebounding from the previous day's losses on better-than-expected company earnings and Chinese growth data that also lifted Asian indices and Wall Street.
Shares had ended sharply lower on Tuesday as the escalating military crisis in Ukraine spooked investors, traders said.
In midday deals on Wednesday, London's FTSE 100 climbed 0.30% to stand at 6 561.15 points compared with Tuesday's closing level, as the benchmark shares index benefited also from official data showing British unemployment had reached a five-year low point.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 won 0.76% to 9 243.86 points and in Paris the CAC 40 added 0.86% to 4 382.57.
"A late-session rally in US markets on Tuesday, meant that we have enjoyed two consecutive up days for Wall Street, and this has provided the foundation for further gains in the UK and Europe," said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG traders.
In Europe on Wednesday, earnings updates that were well-received by the market saw shares in supermarket giant Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, climb 2.26% to 292.78 pence. Luxury fashion brand Burberry climbed 2.74% to 1 461 pence.
But in Paris, Danone lost 1.33% to €52.56 after the French dairy food giant reported a drop in first-quarter sales.
Market players continued to closely track the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin warned that Ukraine is on the verge of civil war, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, after the Kiev government sent in troops against pro-Moscow separatists in the east of the country.
In foreign exchange deals, the euro climbed to $1.3845 from $1.3813 late in New York on Tuesday.
The European single currency fell to 82.34 British pence from 82.59 pence on Tuesday, while the pound advanced to $1.6814 from $1.6726.
Gold firms
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold increased to $1 302.93 an ounce from $1 298 on Tuesday.
Asian markets mostly closed higher on Wednesday in the wake of Wall Street's gains and as Chinese economic growth came in slightly above forecasts in the first three months of the year.
Japan's Nikkei index led regional gains, with a jump of 3.0% thanks to a weaker yen after the head of the country's central bank said it was on course to meet its inflation target next year.
China's National Bureau of Statistics meanwhile reported that the world's number two economy expanded 7.4% year-on-year in January to March.
The figure was lower than the 7.7% seen in the final three months of last year and marks the fourth slowdown in the past five quarters, putting China on track for its worst annual performance since 1990.
However, it was slightly up on the 7.3% median forecast in a survey of 13 economists by AFP.
US stocks finished higher on Tuesday but not before a wild swing lower led by tech stocks that saw the Nasdaq Composite index down nearly two percent at one point.
Wall Street had opened strongly on good results from Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola but then sank, with analysts at the time citing Ukraine worries.
