Topic: London Stock Exchange

European shares extended their advance on Wednesday as bargain hunters moved in after steep losses in the previous session, with Italian banks leading gainers across the region.

European shares hit a 10-week low on Tuesday as fresh concerns about global growth and pressure on some highly indebted euro zone countries hurt cyclical stocks, with charts for a major blue-chip index showing scope for yet further declines.

European shares pared some of their losses to close up after news that U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fell to their lowest levels in four years last week.

European shares closed sharply lower on Wednesday after Spain's disappointing bond auction fuelled concerns about the country's ability to tackle its debt and added to investor pessimism about the euro zone's prospects of avoiding another recession.

European shares closed down on Tuesday, a day after recording their biggest daily gain in three weeks, with the Spanish market hit by concerns over its ability to tackle its deficit.

European shares closed up on Monday afternoon as better-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data rekindled optimism about the pace of recovery of the world's largest economy.

European share prices snapped a three-day losing run on Friday, ending the quarter up almost 7 percent, marking their best first quarter since 2006, after euro zone finance ministers agreed on a temporary boost of the currency bloc's rescue capacity.

European shares extended their recent slide to hit a three-week closing low after several indexes breached chart support levels and traders took further profit from a stellar first quarter that is likely to give way to a period of consolidation.

European shares slipped on Wednesday hitting a three-week closing low in a choppy session, with two major indexes falling below a support level sending a bearish signal to the market as weak U.S. data hit investor sentiment.

European shares closed down on Tuesday after data showed U.S. consumer confidence dipped in March, raising concerns that the economic recovery in the United States could yet be derailed.

European shares closed higher on Monday after remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke fuelled hopes of further monetary easing, and an unexpected improvement in German business sentiment improved investor confidence.

European shares trimmed losses on Friday afternoon to close fractionally higher, led by a rebound in basic resources stocks after the world's top copper producer, Chile's Codelco, recorded a surge in profits and a rise in production.

European equities closed down on Thursday in their longest down run in four months, as gloomy news from manufacturers in key economic powerhouses cast doubts on the strength of global demand.

European shares ended flat on Wednesday in thin trading, holding near a support level after briefly testing it, as falls in financials after weak U.S. home sales data were offset by gains in Repsol and Sainsbury.

European shares closed down for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, with autos and miners hit by worries of a China slowdown, and mixed U.S. data casting a shadow over the earnings outlook for Europe's biggest companies.