European shares closed firmer for a second straight day on Wednesday, helped by a fall in oil prices from peaks above $50 a barrel and by gains in chemical company BASF on hopes of strong earnings. Dealers said European indexes performed well given the amount of stock that entered the market on Tuesday, dominated by the sale of 2.6 billion euros ($3.2 billion) worth of shares in French oil major Total. Total closed down 2.2 percent at 166.2 euros after France's state-owned electricity firm, EDF, sold its entire 2.3 percent stake. The FTSEurofirst 300 index, formerly named the FTSE Eurotop 300, closed 0.3 percent firmer at 993.8 points. Turnover was healthy at about 2.7 billion euros, and rising stocks outnumbered those that fell by about four to one. "I suspect that as we approach the fourth quarter everybody is thinking that high (risk) sectors have been sold off an awful lot and wondering if we are going to get a seasonal rally in the market," said Simon Hallett, a European fund manager at Barings Asset Management. "None of the background looks particularly conducive to that, with the high oil prices, lacklustre data and the bond market very strong, but we've been here before," he said. --More 2145 Local Time 1845 GMT
