Paris - European shares edged higher on Wednesday, as concerns over global growth were tempered by continued expectation of bold action from the European Central Bank to ease the region's debt crisis.
At 0705 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,080.56 points, while UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.1 percent and Germany's DAX was up 0.3 percent.
“On one hand, credible solutions to the debt crisis in Europe are emerging, but on the other hand the macro newsflow in the United States is turning ugly,” said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading, at Global Equities.
“We might not get all the details about the ECB bond buying plan tomorrow, but we know it's coming, so it's priced in. Now the question is: how bad is the situation in the US economy? We'll get a better idea on Friday with the payrolls.”
Oil major BP was the biggest loser among Europe's blue chips, down 3.1 percent, after the US Justice Department ramped up its rhetoric against BP for the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, describing in new court papers examples of what it calls “gross negligence and willful misconduct.” - Reuters