Europe open: Stocks in the black as earnings roll in; Fed announcement eyed

At 0855 BST, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 index was up 0.3%, France's CAC 40 was 0.4% firmer and Germany's DAX was 0.2% higher.

The Federal Reserve rate announcement is due at 1900 BST.

Accendo Markets analyst Mike van Dulken said: "No change to Fed policy is expected this evening (not without a press conference and recent data hardly supportive), but the statement language may offer clues on the outlook for inflation and future hikes, and of course when it plans to begin unwinding its QE-bloated balance sheet."

On the corporate front, oil services company Subsea 7 surged after its second-quarter earnings beat expectations and it lifted its revenue guidance for the year.

Tullow Oil gushed higher as it said revenue rose but it swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half, with the numbers in line with expectations.

Peugeot pushed higher as it posted a 4.1% rise in first-half profit while Daimler advanced after reporting another quarter of record sales and revenue.

Swiss pharmaceutical company Lonza also racked up strong gains after better-than-expected second-quarter results.

Going the other way, chip maker ASM International was on the back foot despite reporting record second-quarter intake, while UniCredit slipped after announcing it has suffered a cyber attack on its Italian clients.

Dutch telecommunications operator KPN retreated despite saying it was well positioned to hit targets for the year and posting an 18% jump in second-quarter net profit.

LafargeHolcim was also weaker after it cut its growth forecast for this year as second-quarter sales missed estimates.

Earlier, data from Insee revealed that French consumer confidence unexpectedly fell sharply in July, with the composite indicator of confidence down to 104 from 108 versus expectations for no change and after gaining eight points over the two previous months.