Market Update
Shares in Europe opened lower but were soon trading on either sides of the flat line as a negative close on Wall Street, an Ireland downgrade and strength in Asian equities provided mixed cues.
At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE was trading 0.1% higher, France's CAC was off 0.4% while Germany's DAX was up 0.3%.
On Tuesday evening, ratings agency Moody's downgraded Ireland's debt rating to junk, adding to continuing worries over the fiscal state of several Eurozone nations.
But robust G.D.P. data in China, which was shown growing at a faster-than-expected rate of 9.5% in the April-June quarter supported sentiment.
Financials were broadly higher in early trade with Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale rising 0.7% to 1.5%. Miners BHP Billiton, Xstrata and Anglo American added between 1% and 1.9%.
A number of stocks in Europe moved after posting earnings updates: Burberry Group climbed 3.5% while Carrefour, L'Oreal, ASML Holding, and Marks & Spencer fell 1.6% to 6.6%.