LONDON, Aug 10 (AFP) - European stock markets rebounded Tuesday, boosted by a solid start in Wall Street, while volume remained low as traders stayed on the sidelines ahead of the US interest rate decision due later in the day.
The British FTSE 100 index rose 0.85 percent to 4,350.9 points, the German DAX 30 climbed 0.82 percent to 3,720.64, while the French CAC 40 advanced 1.02 percent to 3,533.06 a day after falling to its lowest level since December 2003.
The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading eurozone shares advanced 0.23 percent to 2,602.43 points.
The euro stood at 1.2306 dollars.
Wall Street got a lift from bargain hunting after recent falls. The Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 top stocks was up 0.73 percent at 9,886.34, the broader Standard and Poor's 500 index climbed 0.74 percent to 1,073.07 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq index gained 1.12 percent to 1,794.49.
Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei-225 index closed 0.41 percent higher at 10,953.55 points and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.48 percent lower at 12,408.04 points.
In the absence of much corporate news, investors in Europe were focusing their attention on the meeting later in the day of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate-setting policy committee.
The Federal Open Market Committee was widely expected to raise the federal funds rate, which banks charge one another overnight, to 1.50 percent from 1.25 percent despite a disappointing US jobs report for July.
But ING Financial Markets analysts said: "Those hoping for some clues as to the likely pace of future Fed tightening are likely to be disappointed by today's FOMC accompanying statement, which may appear rather familiar in many respects."
In London, Barclays climbed 2.48 percent to 516 pence on renewed speculation that US bank Citigroup was preparing a takeover bid for Britain's third biggest bank, dealers said.
On the downside, British Airways ended 0.12 percent lower at 205.75 pence, but managed to claw back some of its earlier losses, as analysts cut their forecasts amid concern over the rising cost of fuel.
BA said Monday it would more than double a passenger fuel levy paid on long-haul routes to six pounds (8.96 euros, 11.02 dollars) for single tickets.
In Frankfurt, Deutsche Boerse was the biggest winner after positive broker comments on its second-quarter results, which came in last night at the upper end of expectations. The stock closed up 3.85 percent at 39.40 euros.
Elsewhere, Switzerland's top bank UBS won 0.18 percent to 81.75 Swiss francs after its first-half net profit jumped 60 percent to 4.4 billion Swiss francs (2.9 billion euros, 3.5 billion dollars) from a year ago.
The Swiss SMI index gained 0.46 percent to close at 5,383 points.
The Amsterdam AEX added 1.01 percent at 316.24 points, the Brussels Bel-20 rose 0.94 percent to 2,475.27, the Madrid Ibex-35 edged up 0.28 percent to 7,654.7 and the Milan Mib30 ended 0.61 percent higher at 26,701.0.