European shares stage late rebound

European shares staged a late rebound on Tuesday as the Russian rouble recovered a good chunk of the day's losses against the dollar and oil prices also gained ground. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of pan-European shares closed 1.8 per cent higher at 1,314.31 points after trading as low as 1,273.2 earlier in the day. FTSEurofirst 300 was nearly 80 per cent higher. Shares in European companies exposed to Russia still fell sharply. Raiffeisen Bank International, hit a record low before closing 9.4 per cent lower. Brewer Carlsberg slumped 6.5 per cent and hit a 2 1/2-year trough while German retailer Metro fell 1 per cent. Elsewhere, Orange was up 3.7 per cent and Deutsche Telekom rose 3.1 per cent after the two firms entered exclusive talks with BT for a potential 12.5 billion-pound ($19.6 billion) sale of EE. BT shares were up 1.9 per cent, according to Reuters.