French banking group BNP Paribas swings to profit, shares advance By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- European shares rose for the third straight session on Wednesday, as earnings out from the financial sector helped offset worries about Greece's debt woes. After gaining 1.4% over the first two sessions of the week, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index (ST:SXXP 247.15, +2.77, +1.13%) rose another 1.1% to 246.98 on Wednesday. That move pared year-to-date losses to 2.7%. "While clearly risks in equity markets do remain due in part to the sovereign debt issues in peripheral Europe, we continue to retain our positive stance on markets," said Stephen Taylor, strategist at Dolmen Stockbrokers. He pointed to an improved economic environment, increased merger and acquisition activity, and the corporate profit outlook as supportive factors for equities. Helping bolster sentiment on Wednesday, shares of French banking group BNP Paribas (FR:BNP 50.69, +1.49, +3.03%) climbed 3% after it swung to fourth-quarter net income of 1.37 billion euros ($1.89 billion) from a year-earlier loss of about the same amount. Read story on BNP Paribas. Additionally, ING Groep (NL:INGA 6.73, +0.28, +4.34%) (ING 9.24, +0.28, +3.13%) rose 4.5% after it narrowed its fourth-quarter loss to 712 million euros ($980 million) from 3.71 billion euros in the same quarter a year before. On Tuesday, stronger-than-expected earnings from Barclays (UK:BARC 302.85, +9.25, +3.15%) (BCS 19.16, +0.13, +0.68%) fueled a sharp jump in the lender's share price and helped support sentiment across Europe. The lender added another 3.6% on Wednesday after an upgrade to buy from hold at Royal Bank of Scotland. On a regional level, the U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,279, +34.73, +0.66%) rose 0.6% to 5,277.09, the German DAX index (DX:DAX 5,646, +53.64, +0.96%) advanced 1% to 5,646.95 and the French CAC-40 index (FR:PX1 3,725, +56.08, +1.53%) rose 1.5% to 3,723.93. Asian shares jumped higher while U.S. stock futures were pointing to an extension of Tuesday's sharp gains. In the currency markets, the euro edged down 0.1% to $1.3737. Worries about Greece's fiscal position have pressured the euro in recent weeks and formed a central topic of discussion at this week's meeting of European finance leaders. Read more on currencies. "We think that eventually Greece will not be allowed to default and will receive some form of a bridge loan, probably in the form of a loan from member states. This will come together with more restrictive conditions on the budget and additional measures," said economists at UBS. The Greek ASE Composite Index advanced 1.3% to 1,890.74. Other advancers in Europe included Atos Origin (FR:ATO 34.39, +1.79, +5.49%) . The firm jumped 5.6% after the provider of information technology services said its 2009 net income rose 40% to 32 million euros, while revenue dropped 3.7% to 5.13 billion euros. "Fiscal year results should add credibility to the new management and offer sufficient evidence that the company should attain its operating margin expansion target of 200 basis points to 300 basis points by 2011," said Credit Suisse analysts. However, it wasn't all good news on the earnings front, with shares of Norway's Norsk Hydro (NO:NHY 40.25, -1.41, -3.38%) down 3%. The power and aluminum firm's fourth-quarter net loss narrowed to 569 million Norwegian kroner ($97.1 million), from 6.0 billion kroner recorded at the same point a year ago but the firm said that it remains cautious for 2010. Sales declined to 16.4 billion kroner, from 20.7 billion kroner last year. Higher realized aluminum prices were offset by weak alumina and trading results during the three month period. Publicis (FR:PUB 28.38, -0.82, -2.81%) , the Paris advertising and media group, declined 2.8% after it reported that its fourth-quarter net income fell 9.8% to 403 million euros. Revenue fell 7.6% to 1.27 billion euros due to foreign-exchange fluctuations.

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