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Aug 7 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Wednesday after
three sessions of losses as deal-making activity in the chemical
sector helped offset pale earnings from banks in the region,
with U.S.-China trade worries lingering.
German chemical groups Bayer BAYGn.DE and Lanxess
LXSG.DE agreed to sell chemical park operator Currenta to
Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) MQG.AX for an
enterprise value of 3.5 billion euros ($3.9 billion).
Shares of both companies were up between 1.7% and 3%, with
the chemical sub-sector .SX4P leading gains.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.3% after a
volatile session on Monday with Germany's trade-sensitive DAX
.GDAXI shrugging off dire industrial output data.
Banks .SX7P moved lower, with Italian banks .FTIT8300
weighing after mixed earnings from the country's top lenders.
The country' biggest bank by assets UniCredit CRDI.MI
lagged after it cut its revenue target for 2019 due to
expectations interest rates would remain lower for longer, but
shares of Banco BPM BAMI.MI rose 3% after it reported a sharp
rise in net profit.
Also weighing on banks was Commerzbank CBKG.DE , after the
German lender said its target for a slight increase in full-year
net profit had become "significantly more ambitious".
London's FTSE 100 .FTSE underperformed as mining
heavyweight Glencore Plc GLEN.L fell after reporting a 32%
drop in first-half core profit.