Mineral and energy stocks pushed higher on Wednesday to pull European stock markets back into positive territory for the first time this week.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 0.5 per cent to 1,165.31 as banks trimmed their losses after falling nearly 2.5 per cent on Tuesday. In Germany the Xetra Dax climbed 0.6 per cent to 6,317.80, and France’s CAC 40 added 0.8 per cent to 4,365.87.