LONDON (Reuters) - European shares rebounded back up on Wednesday from two-year lows reached in the previous session, helped by some solid corporate earnings and signs of corporate takeover activity.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which had fallen 1.6 percent to its lowest point since September 2013 in the previous session, recovered slightly to rise 0.4 percent.
The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index gained 0.5 percent, while Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 0.6 percent.
Shares in gambling group Unibet surged 12.6 percent after the company's fourth quarter underlying profit rose more than expected.
Norwegian mobile software company Opera also jumped 41.2 percent after a group of Chinese firms made a cash offer for the company, valuing it at 10.5 billion crowns, or $1.23 billion.
However, shares in Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk slumped 9 percent after the company reported a fourth-quarter net loss after booking impairments of $2.6 billion on its oil assets.
According to Thomson Reuters StarMine data, roughly half of the companies in the pan-European STOXX 600 index have reported fourth quarter results, and 52 percent have beaten or met expectations while 48 percent have missed.