European equities staged a late recovery on Wednesday, as a rebound in energy stocks and new signs of economic stimulus measures from the European Central Bank lifted shares, Reuters reported. Brent crude, which is still down nearly 50 percent in six months, moved above $60 a barrel on Wednesday as U.S. data showed falling crude inventories. The oil price recovery lifted the STOXX Europe 600 Oil & Gas Index by 3.3 percent. Energy stocks added the most points to the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, which had spent much of the day mired in negative territory due to concerns over financial turmoil in Russia but closed up 0.1 percent at 1,316.76 points. The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also shrugged off earlier losses to end up 0.1 percent. The hard-hit Greek market also bounced ahead of a tight parliamentary vote that will trigger elections unless the Greek prime minister can win backing from independents and smaller parties that have so far rejected helping his coalition. -- SPA 21:38 LOCAL TIME 18:38 GMT تغريد