Equities in Europe were trading higher Wednesday, after Wall Street closed strong overnight on some robust earnings and after lawmakers appeared to be inching closer to a debt deal.
At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE rose gained 0.4%, France's CAC added 0.7% while Germany's DAX rose 0.6%.
Financials bounced back strongly after taking a beating recently: Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale climbed between 2.4% and 3.5%.
Also, reports said U.S. Congressional leaders were coming around to agree to a deal to raise the debt ceiling of the United States, a move that would avert a technical default, in exchange for spending cuts.
Technology stocks also rose after Apple posted blowout earnings last evening. ARM Holdings advanced 3.4%.
Shares of Alstom SA were off 2.8% following its earnings announcement.