By Josie Cox

European shares bounced back in early trade on Wednesday, buoyed by a rise in U.S. stocks on Tuesday ahead of the release of latest Federal Reserve minutes, and by targeted economic stimulus measures in China supporting Asian markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just short of yet another record on Tuesday, after Wall Street Journal chief economics correspondent Jon Hilsenrath said the Fed may continue to use the words "considerable time" to describe when it may raise rates, but qualify them.

In China, the central bank overnight announced that it is injecting 500 billion yuan ($81 billion) into the country's five major state-owned banks as it moves to counter slower-than-expected growth, helping the Hang Seng to break eight straight days of losses.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 tentatively added 0.5% in early trade following two consecutive days of losses, while Germany's DAX 30 and France's CAC 40 both rose around 0.5%.

Even London's FTSE 100 was trading 0.2% higher on the day, despite volatility and tensions ahead of Thursday's Scottish referendum. A survey by pollster Opinium for the Daily Telegraph newspaper released Tuesday found that 47% of those surveyed supported staying in the U.K. and 43% supported independence. The rest of the 1,156 Scots polled online were undecided or weren't planning to vote.

Nonetheless, strategists and economists appear to remain acutely aware of the risks associated with either outcome and the economic uncertainty that would prevail, especially in the case of a split.

"In my opinion the political and economic ramifications will linger for a long time," said Gary Jenkins, a credit strategist at LNG Capital.

"It is possible that the attraction of gilts diminish somewhat in the eyes of international investors. It is possible that inward investment reduces because of the increased probability of withdrawal from the European Union. Basically the politicians have managed to create a negative scenario for U.K. assets whatever the result of the referendum," he added.

Sterling (GBPUSD) was able to recoup some of the losses seen in earlier days, rising 0.2% to $1.6295 against the U.S. dollar. U.K. government bonds were steady on the day, with the yield on the 10-year Gilt at 2.53%.

"Should the 'No' vote prevail, we would expect a bounce in the pound and for eurozone peripheral bonds to outperform," says Riccardo Barbieri, chief European economist at Mizuho.

Sovereign bonds, particularly in Spain, have underperformed in recent weeks on suspicion that Scottish independence could set a precedent for other separatist movements, for example in Catalonia.

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