European shares rose on Wednesday led by mining stocks and financials on a heavy day for regional corporate results, AP reported. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.5 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was flat. Norwegian insurer Storebrand was the best performing stock on the index, up 6.9 percent to a nine-year high after forecast-beating earnings and the first dividend in six years was cheered by investors. Shares of British asset manager Aberdeen Asset Management , which have struggled over the past two years, rose 4.5 percent after RBC raised the stock to "sector perform" from "underperform". Nordic stocks were among the worst-performing stocks, however, with Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moeller-Maersk the top European faller, its shares down 6.2 percent after it missed fourth-quarter profit forecasts and announced its chairman would step down. Sweden's Handelsbanken dropped 4.3 percent, headed for its worst daily losses in more than six months, after its profit and dividend.
