Earnings hopes help European stocks bounce back.

PARIS (Reuters) - European stocks rose in early
trade on Tuesday, bouncing back from the
previous session's losses, as forecast-beating
results from U.S. aluminum major Alcoa ( AA.N)
sparked hopes for the upcoming earnings
season.
Investors were also cheered by news that Japan
was considering buying about 20 percent of
euro zone bonds to be jointly issued later in
January to raise funds to support debt-swamped
Ireland. [ID:nL3E7CB076]
At 0807 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3)
index of top European shares was up 0.5
percent at 1,139.08 points, rebounding after a 1
percent drop on Monday.
"The focus is switching to companies' results
this week, with earnings due from big U.S.
names such as JPMorgan ( JPM.N), but the euro
zone debt fears will remain in the backdrop and
could continue to weigh on banking stocks," said
Geraud Missonnier, trader at Saxo Banque in
Paris.
Banking stocks were among the top gainers on
Tuesday, reversing recent losses, with Barclays
( BARC.L) up 3.4 percent, Credit Agricole
(CAGR.PA) up 2.5 percent and HSBC (HSBA.L)
up 2.3 percent.


Source: Http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70A14P20110111?ca=rdt