LONDON, July 25: European stock markets rose slightly on Wednesday after suffering stiff losses early in the week, as gloomy economic news was offset by upbeat earnings statements by some European blue-chips, analysts said.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index inched up 0.04 per cent to 5,501.42 points in afternoon trade off earlier highs following dire news that Britain's recession deepened in the second quarter of 2012.

Elsewhere, the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.03 per cent to 3,075.47 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 rose 0.32 per cent to 6,410.92 points as investors set aside news of sliding German investor confidence.

Italian and Spanish markets rebounded sharply, clawing back some of their recent losses suffered on eurozone debt crisis concerns. Milan jumped 1.17 per cent and Madrid added 0.60 percent.

“Earnings from leading European blue-chips have helped the positive bias today, with auto stocks outperforming the wider market,” at least in Germany, ETX Capital Market analyst Ishaq Siddiqi wrote.

In foreign exchange deals, the euro climbed to $1.2149 from $1.2063 in New York late Tuesday, when it had tumbled to a two-year low at $1.2043.

US stocks opened higher on Wall Street as investors digested strong earnings reports from Dow members Boeing and Caterpillar and disappointing results from Apple.

In early trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks points was up 0.76 percent to 12,713.02.

The S&P 500-stock index advanced 0.30 percent to 1,342.32 while the tech-rich Nasdaq was stable at 2,863.53.

All eyes remain firmly on Europe, where Madrid remains in focus as its borrowing costs for benchmark 10-year bonds fell to 7.4020 per cent on Wednesday.—AFP