PARIS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - European stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday, bouncing back from the previous session's losses, as forecast-beating results from U.S. aluminium major Alcoa sparked hopes for the upcoming earnings season.
Investors were also cheered by news that Japan was considering buying about 20 percent of euro zone bonds to be jointly issued later in January to raise funds to support debt-swamped Ireland.
At 0807 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.5 percent at 1,139.08 points, rebounding after a 1 percent drop on Monday.
"The focus is switching to companies' results this week, with earnings due from big U.S. names such as JPMorgan, but the euro zone debt fears will remain in the backdrop and could continue to weigh on banking stocks," said Geraud Missonnier, trader at Saxo Banque in Paris.
Banking stocks were among the top gainers on Tuesday, reversing recent losses, with Barclays up 3.4 percent, Credit Agricole up 2.5 percent and HSBC up 2.3 percent.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson)