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According to Reuters, the FTSEurofirst 300 stock market was 1.2 per cent higher by 12:46 BST, taking it to 1,101.16 points.
Goldman Sachs's earnings helped Societe Generale, Banco Santander, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank rise by as much as 2.2 per cent, while Daimler, the German luxury car group, added 7.4 per cent after saying results for its Mercedes Benz division are on track to beat forecasts.
This also helped rivals BMW, Fiat and Peugeot climb by between 4.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent.
And news that some flights have been allowed to take off across Europe today helped raise the price of oil, lifting stocks in Total, BP and Royal Dutch Shell.
In London, the FTSE 100 was up 0.9 per cent to 5,779.63 points at 15:50 BST, the news agency reports.
Posted by Greg Secker
