March 10, 2009

PARIS, March 10 (Reuters) - European stocks rose on Tuesday morning, gaining ground for the first time in four sessions, as a memo from Citigroup's (C.N) chief helped calm fears over the health of the embattled financial sector. According to the memo from Citigroup's Chief Executive Vikram Pandit obtained by Reuters, the bank was profitable in the first two months of 2009 and is confident about its capital strength after tough internal stress tests. The memo said the bank was having its best quarter-to-date performance since the third quarter of 2007. Citigroup declined to comment on the memo.

This certainly fuels hope that the worst could soon be behind them, and behind the sector in general, one London-based trader said. Banking and insurance stocks -- which have been Europe's biggest losers so far in 2009 -- were in a rallying mood, with UniCredit (CRDI.MI) gaining 6 percent, ING Groep (ING.AS) adding 12 percent, Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) up 6.2 percent, Barclays (BARC.L) up 5.5 percent and AXA (AXAF.PA) up 3.8 percent.