European shares recovered on Wednesday from their biggest one-day loss in five months, as a rebound in banking stocks and some positive first-quarter results outweighed weakness in oil and gas stocks. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent by 0900 GMT, after hitting a three-week low on Tuesday.

Britain's FTSE extended the previous session's losses, dropping 0.1 percent as sterling strength weighed on its constituents, most of which are major exporters.

Banking stocks snapped a six-day losing streak - their longest run of daily losses for 11 months - to rise 1.4 percent, making them the top sectoral gainers.

Banco Popular and Unicredit led the sectoral gainers, adding 6 percent and 4.4 percent respectively.

Earnings, which began in earnest from European companies, were mixed.

"Overall, we are encouraged by the strong start to the year and believe it means full year forecasts are well underpinned," Barclays analysts said.

Oil storage and services company Vopak was also a top gainer after its first quarter results. The shares rose 5.5 percent.

British luxury group Burberry was the top European loser, down 5.8 percent after it reported a slowdown in its fourth-quarter comparable sales growth rate, saying tough conditions in the U.S. outweighed an "exceptional" performance in its home market. German retailer Zalando fell 4.5 percent after it said it was happy with its first-quarter despite margin pressure due to post-Christmas sales discounting.