(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
       March 22 (Reuters) - A two-day bounce in European stocks
petered out on Wednesday as investors awaited the Federal
Reserve's policy outcome after signs of troubles in the banking
sector raised hopes of a tempered approach to further U.S.
interest rate hikes.
    By 0811 GMT, the pan-European STOXX 600 index  .STOXX 
posted marginal gains after a two-day bounce, fuelled by a rally
in battered banking stocks following a series of support
measures to stabilise the sector.   
    European banks index  .SX7P  inched up 0.2% after a 5% jump
in the past two sessions when UBS's  UBSG.S  state-backed
takeover of the 167-year-old Credit Suisse and coordinated
actions by central banks to boost liquidity lifted sentiment.
    The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by a
quarter-of-a-percentage point later in the day, a decision that
will land amid a brewing political storm over the U.S. central
bank's oversight of collapsed Silicon Valley Bank.
    Ubisoft  UBIP.PA  jumped 4.7% after HSBC upgraded the French
video game producer's stock to "buy" from "hold".  
    

    

 (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips)
 ((sruthi.shankar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223
8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6182 2787;))