Cheaper Oil Lifts European Stocks, Defence Shares Lead the Way

European stocks rose on Wednesday as cheaper oil prices eased inflation concerns, lifting the STOXX Europe 600 by about 0.4% to 645.04 in early trading.

The decline in Brent crude below $100 a barrel came after Saudi Arabia restarted its East-West pipeline and prepared to resume exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu.

This development is particularly important for Europe, where the Middle East conflict has pushed energy costs higher and complicated the ECB's inflation fight.

Despite the weaker crude prices, energy shares gained about 0.8%, showing investors are not yet pricing a collapse in oil-company earnings.