* FTSEurofirst 300 index rises 1.1 percent
* Autonomy slumps as earnings disappoint
* Unibail-Rodamco gains after results
* For up-to-the minute market news, click on []
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, July 22 (Reuters) - European shares rose on
Thursday, reversing earlier falls as banks gained ahead of the
sector's stress tests results on Friday, outweighing gloomy
comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Stronger earnings news also helped boost sentiment.
Unibail-Rodamco <UNBP.PA> gained 3.7 percent as the European
property group promised to return cash to shareholders after a
forecast-beating first half.
By 0904 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <>
index of top shares was up 1.1 percent at 1,028.35 points after
being as low as 1,013.46 earlier.
"The market is struggling between a message from the Fed
that is slightly discomforting and earnings that are coming
which have been quite decent in the U.S. and Europe," said Mike
Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewin Dolphin.
"If we get a few more decent earnings then markets are going
to rebound. Although there has been lots of doubts other the
bank stress tests, I think the market is looking forward to it
and will be happier when it is out."
Investor sentiment was knocked initially after Bernanke said
on Wednesday that the Fed is ready to ease monetary policy
further if the budding U.S. economic recovery withers and
described the outlook as "unusually uncertain." []
The STOXX Europe 600 Banks <.SX7P> index was up 1.5 percent
following earlier falls. Europe is testing how 91 banks would
cope with another economic slump and losses on government debt
in the wake of the euro zone sovereign debt crisis.
[]
But Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX> fell 2.7 percent after quarterly
results showed it was able to continue to attract money from
wealthy clients albeit at a slower pace than in the previous
quarter. []
CAPITA GAINS
British outsourcing group Capita <CPI.L> added 3.9 percent
after the company reported a 15 percent rise in first-half
profit, prompting Evolution Securities to upgrade its rating to
"buy" from "add".
Shares in Danish wind turbine maker Vestas <VWS.CO> rose 4.1
percent. The group late on Wednesday announced a record order
from California for turbines totalling 750 megawatts.
On the downside, British software firm Autonomy <AUTN.L>
lost 8.3 percent after its second-quarter results.
Kingfisher <KGF.L> dropped 1.5 percent after Europe's
biggest home improvements retailer reported a slightly
worse-than-expected 0.8 percent fall in second-quarter
underlying sales.
Britain's Imperial Tobacco <IMT.L>, the world's
fourth-biggest cigarette maker, slipped 2.6 percent after it
said cigarette volumes fell 4.3 percent in the nine months to
June, worsening from a 3.7 percent decline in its first half.
[]
Syngenta <SYNN.VX>, the world's biggest agrochemicals
company, fell 5.2 percent after it said it expects its net
profit to be down this year as a late start to the farming
season following a harsh winter and higher taxes weigh.
[]
British retail sales received a World Cup boost in June,
rising by a faster-than-expected 0.7 percent on the month after
an upwardly revised gain of 0.8 percent in May, the Office for
National Statistics said.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index was up 0.5
percent, Germany's DAX <> gained 1 percent and France's
CAC 40 <> was up 1 percent.
The Thomson Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index
<.TRXFLDPIPU> gained 2 percent.
(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Michael Shields)
