Europe open: Shares march on ahead of rate calls; JDE Peet's surges

European shares continued to rally on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to eurozone inflation data, rate decisions from the US and UK amid another dump of corporate earnings.

The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was up 0.88% at 515 in early deals. Investors were also taking stock of a rate rise from the Bank of Japan - only its second increase since 2007.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to keep rates on hold as it ends a two-day policy meeting, while the Bank of England meets a day later for its latest decision.

In equity news, shares in coffee and tea company JDE Peet's surged as the company raised its full-year sales growth forecast, after reporting half-year results above analysts' expectations.

HSBC interim results beat analyst expectations, while the Asia-focused bank also unveiled a $3bn buyback and said farewell to CEO Noel Quinn.

Just Eat shares rose as the food delivery company said it was buying back €150m in shares after a rise in interim core profits.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com