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* BP, Shell, Total among top boosts to STOXX 600
* London's FTSE leads as BHP, Rio also jump
* Analysts forecast deeper corporate recession in 2020
* Gucci-owner Kering slumps on flagging sales hit
* All eyes on EU summit on Thursday
(Updates to close)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Susan Mathew
April 22 (Reuters) - A rebound in oil prices and hopes of
more stimulus lifted European shares on Wednesday, even as
investors remained cautious about a swift recovery as more
companies issued worrying financial forecasts.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index finished up 1.8%
after tumbling more than 3% on Tuesday following a historic
collapse in oil prices.
Oil prices rose on the prospect of pledges of extra output
cuts, and optimism from the recovery spilled in to most other
commodity markets.
BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell along with
France's Total surged between 4.8% and 6.8%, helping
the regional energy index make up most of its losses
this week.
Along with a more than 3% jump in global miners BHP
and Rio Tinto, London's FTSE 100 surged 2.3%.
Italy's main index ended 1.9% higher after Prime
Minister Giuseppe Conte said Italy is likely to start easing its
coronavirus lockdown from May 4.
The benchmark STOXX 600 has bounced about 21% from a March
low, powered by aggressive global stimulus, and all eyes are now
on a European Union summit on Thursday to discuss using a joint
long-term budget to restart economic growth.
On the same day, the U.S. House of Representatives is
expected to clear a $484 billion relief package. Wall Street
stock indexes bounced after the Senate approved the package on
Tuesday.
"Unlike the previous financial crisis where debt
sustainability and rollover risks were real, the eurozone seems
to have ample financial firepower to manage the market risks it
is facing," said Richard Kelly, head of Global Strategy at TD
Securities.
But the STOXX 600 still remains about 24% below its February
record high as strict stay-at-home orders virtually shut down
business activity and crush supply chains and consumer spending,
foreshadowing a deep economic slump.
Gucci-owner Kering slumped almost 5% after saying
sales were hit hard early in the coronavirus crisis due to the
fashion group's reliance on Chinese customers and that it was
premature to say how quickly China sales would rebound.
Analysts now estimate earnings at STOXX 600 companies to
slide 37% in the second quarter and 27.6% in the third, quashing
earlier expectations that an earnings recession would end in
2019.
"In general we still see markets as being a bit fragile
here," said Graham Secker, chief European equity strategist at
Morgan Stanley.
"As we go through the corporate earnings season, for an
investor it's difficult because we don't know what the consensus
is and how the numbers are necessarily perceived. We're trying
to sniff out how corporates are thinking about the next 12-to-18
months rather than the next few weeks."
Banking shares gained about 2.6%, even as the
region's top lenders prepared to follow their American peers in
setting aside billions to cover potential loan losses due to the
coronavirus outbreak.
Roche Holding AG rose 2.7% as the Swiss drugmaker
confirmed its 2020 sales and profit outlook amid rising demand
for its new COVID-19 tests.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by
Sriraj Kalluvila and Kirsten Donovan)
