European equities rebound, step back from geopolitics

Europe's main stock markets rebounded Wednesday, taking a step back from geopolitical tensions to refocus on economic and corporate news.

The region's equities had fallen Tuesday with airlines and hotel groups hit by a US travel warning and the downing of a Russian fighter jet by Turkey.

While Asian markets retreated, mirroring a sell-off in tourism-linked firms in the United States overnight, the sector helped to lift European bourses, Thomas Cook (Xetra: A0MR3W - news) notably advancing 11.4 percent on its first annual net profit for five years, more than overturning 7 percent losses over two previous sessions.

Russo-Turkish tensions in the wake of the jet downing sent oil prices up on concern about supplies in the crude-rich Middle East region but failed to make a fresh dent in European equities.

"European equities are positive," said Accendo Markets analyst Mike van Dulken.

At the close, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index had risen 1.0 percent, as a British government budget update announced fresh public spending cuts while shelving a plan to cut welfare payments for the poorest and sparing the police from savings after the Paris attacks

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 closed up 2.2 percent with Volkswagen (Other OTC: VLKAF - news) and Allianz leading the gainers -- both adding almost 4 percent, while the Paris CAC 40 index was also up 1.4 percent compared with Tuesday's close, while Milan gained 1.1 percent.

- Short-lived tension -

European markets rose "after the escalation of tensions between Russia and Turkey proved short-lived", noted Rebecca O'Keeffe, head of investment at stockbroker Interactive Investor.

In foreign exchange activity, the euro nudged down to $1.0582 as Capital Economics speculated that "the prospect of a historically large divergence between US and euro-zone monetary policy looks set to push the euro below parity versus the US dollar for the first time since late 2002."

Earlier Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sought to play down tensions with Russia after Turkey's downing of the Russian plane sparked fears among NATO allies of a wider conflict.

Despite those concerns, traders took heart from a Standard (Other OTC: SNDH - news) and Poor's report which found "the latest indicators show that stronger domestic demand is overcoming soft exports, which suggests that the eurozone upturn continues to forge ahead."

The ratings agency added that consumers in the eurozone had provided "a welcome boost" to growth, especially in Germany, while detecting that shoppers were starting to spend more elsewhere, too.

- Delight for homebuilders -

British homebuilders headed FTSE 100 risers.

The sector won a major boost as finance minister George Osborne prepared to unveil a scheme to build 400,000 new homes deemed by the government to be affordable.

Ahead of the update, homebuilders Taylor Wimpey (LSE: TW.L - news) and Persimmon (Other OTC: PSMMY - news) surged by more than six percent in value before settling at mid-afternoon rises of around 3.4 percent.

US stocks were ahead, just barely, on mixed jobless and spending data in the last trading session ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

- Key figures at European close-

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 6,337.6 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 2.2 percent at 11,169.54

Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.5 percent at 4,893.0

EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.5 percent at 3,461.8

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 19,847.58 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN to $1.0611 from $1.0642 in late US trade on Tuesday