Europe Stocks Recoup On Greek Relief, Earnings

European stock markets recouped a portion of the prior session’s steep losses in choppy Thursday trading as worries over Greece eased after a key austerity vote, while investors awaited policy decisions from a pair of central banks.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index  rose 0.2% to 271.46, after closing with a 1.4% loss on Wednesday.

Siemens AG  was among the major advancers in the index, its shares up 3.5%, after the industrial group said it would cut 6 billion euros ($7.67 billion) of costs by 2014.

Shares of HeidelbergCement AG  gained 3.3%, after the cement maker posted higher profit from continuing operations for the third quarter and affirmed its outlook for improved 2012 revenue.

KBC Group NV shares  added 2.7%, as the Belgian bank swung to a €531 million third-quarter profit from a €1.58 billion loss a year earlier.

Also on the move, shares of Skanska AB  lost 1.4%. The Swedish construction company reported softer-than-expected third-quarter earnings and warned of weak demand in the Nordic countries.

The broader European markets are coming off a weak performance on Wednesday, when worrying data from Germany, the region’s economic powerhouse, and concerns over Washington’s so-called fiscal cliff sent bourses tumbling on the heels of the U.S. presidential election.

Late Wednesday, media reports said, the Greek parliament narrowly approved a batch of austerity measures, moving the country a step closer to securing the next tranche of bailout money from international lenders.

For Thursday’s action, investors trained their eyes on policy decisions due from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, with both expected to keep their respective key interest rates on hold.

Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, also hosts a monthly news conference at 1:30 London time, 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

“The market is not expecting any major policy changes from the ECB but it will be worth watching for any hints on Greece or Spain from Draghi at the Q&A,” analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.

Market participants have been keeping a close on eye on developments in Spain for any clues about the potential for a formal bailout request, necessary to trigger bond purchases from the ECB’s Outright Monetary Transactions program.

Movers

Among other notable movers in Europe, shares of Deutsche Post AG  dropped 1% after reporting a drop in net profit for third quarter.

Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index  added 0.5% to 7,267.28, supported by the gains in Siemens shares.

In Paris, shares of BNP Paribas SA  rose 1.4%.

Shares of Veolia Environnement SA  climbed 1.4%. The company said it signed a 25-year contract valued at about 460 million pounds ($733.5 million) with the U.K. city of Leeds for waste treatment and energy recovery.

The CAC 40 index  traded 0.4% higher at 3,422.86.

Among U.K. shares, Schroders PLC  picked up 0.5%, gaining after the investment manager reported a 2.6 billion pound ($4.2 billion) net new funds inflow for the third quarter.

Tate & Lyle PLC shares  dropped 1.4% after the food-ingredients firm posted a 28% drop in first-half pretax profit.

The FTSE 100 index  moved 0.3% higher to 5,806.29.

Outside the main index in London, shares of Balfour Beatty PLC  slumped 16%, after the firm said profitability in 2012 will be lower than expected, as U.S. construction markets remain depressed and its own performance in the U.K. is weaker than anticipated.

Marketwatch