Europe midday: Shares hold gains as Italy, Germany outperform

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.21%. Italian shares continued to rally, up 0.27% as former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi agreed to help form a unity government. Germany's DAX rose 0.49% as the governing coalition agreed extra Covid relief measures

In the US, Democrats continued their efforts to get President Joe Biden’s relief package through Congress without Republican support. Investors were also eyeing weekly jobless claims, which are expected to show a further fall after last week’s fall to 847k from 900k.

In equity news, shares in German IT group Cancom rose 6.79% as it reported strong fourth quarter earnings.

Bayer AG shares were 4.95% higher after the company struck a $2bn deal to resolve future legal claims that its widely used weedkiller Roundup causes cancer.

Deutsche Bank shares rose after the German lender swung to a small annual profit in 2020, its first since 2014, on the back of strong gains at its investment banking division.

Caterer Compass Group gained as the firm told shareholders it was sorry for substandard free UK school meal packages and said revenue fell by a third in the first quarter, with no pickup expected in the second quarter.

Barratt Developments was on the rise after saying that first-half pre-tax profit edged higher amid record completions, as the housebuilder declared an interim dividend.

BT Group was trading higher after saying it was on track to meet full-year forecasts despite a fall in third-quarter core earnings.

Royal Dutch Shell fell 1.68% after the company reported its worst financial performance in two decades as the Covid pandemic hammered energy consumption. However, it also signalled an increase in the first quarter dividend.

Unilever slumped 3.6% as the consumer goods company increased its fourth-quarter dividend and reported a decline in annual profit caused mainly by currency swings.