European Shares Edge Higher As Draghi Speaks

(RTTNews) - European stocks were seeing modest gains on Wednesday as worries about gas supplies eased and U.S. streaming giant Netflix posted better than expected results for the June quarter.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said in a speech to the Senate that he was willing to put together a new coalition.

The European Central Bank is seen raising interest rates for the first time in 11 years at Thursday's meeting of the governing council. In economic releases, Germany's producer price inflation eased unexpectedly in June from a record high in May, while U.K. consumer inflation hit a new 40-year high in June on rising motor fuel and food prices, separate reports showed.

The pan European Stoxx 600 was up 0.3 percent at 424.74 after rallying 1.4 percent in the previous session.

The German DAX, Franc's CAC 40 index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose between 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent.

Commodity-related stocks climbed as recession worries ebbed. Miners Anglo American and Glencore rallied 1-2 percent, while oil & gas firm BP Plc advanced 1.7 percent and Shell added 1 percent.

Advertising firm WPP jumped 2.4 percent after U.S. rival Omnicom Group reported second-quarter earnings that beat analysts' forecasts.

Postal service and courier company Royal Mail tumbled 4.7 percent after its fiscal first-quarter group revenue fell 11.5 percent year-on-year.

Morses Club shares plunged 43 percent after the subprime lender said it was looking at a potential program to settle customer redress claims.

Uniper shares jumped 19 percent. The company is nearing a bailout deal that may see the German government inject billions of euros and take a direct stake in the energy giant, the Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the matter.

ASML Holding N.V. shares were moving lower after the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker trimmed its revenue growth forecast for fiscal 2022.