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Market Update

European Shares Advance; Banks Gain

Stocks in Europe rose in early trading, as the recent economic uncertainty appeared to be easing, and as investors look forward to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech later this week, who may outline steps, if any, to boost the U.S. economy.

At the time of writing, Britain's FTSE gained 0.7% while France's CAC and Germany's DAX rose 1.2% each.

Financial shares rose broadly across the region: Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale added 2.5% to 5.4%. Credit Agricole jumped 6.6% following its results.

While automakers BMW, Daimler and Renault were up between 1.5% and 2.9%.

In news-driven movers, commodities trader Glencore was up 2.7% after posting robust quarterly earnings.

Elsewhere, Asian markets were broadly higher while U.S. futures were trading flat, with the Nasdaq stock index futures pressured by weakness in Apple shares after the resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO.

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