European equities bounced back on Wednesday after euro zone members gave Greece until the end of the week to come up with a proposal for sweeping reforms to secure new aid and avoid crashing out of the euro, according to Reuters. Barclays was the FTSEurofirst 300 index's top gainer, up 3.3 percent, after the British lender surprised markets by announcing a search for a new chief executive to help accelerate strategic change and boost shareholder returns. The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index was up 1.2 percent by 0809 GMT, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.5 percent. Britain's FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC gained 0.6 to 1.1 percent, following an emergency summit on Greece in Brussels late on Tuesday. European Central Bank Governing Council member Christian Noyer said a crisis meeting of EU leaders on Sunday is "really the final deadline" for Greece to reach a deal with creditors or face economic collapse. The STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources Index fell 1.2 percent after stocks in China, the world's biggest metals consumer, slumped further. Chinese shares have lost about 30 percent of their value since mid-June, a new blow to the country's already slowing economy.
