By Susan Mathew, Devik Jain (Reuters) -European shares scaled near seven-week highs on Wednesday as a string of strong results from companies including Russia-exposed lender UniCredit and Britain’s Smurfit Kappa provided some comfort in an otherwise gloomy environment. The STOXX 600 index closed 0.5% higher, with shares of French IT consulting firm Atos surging 16.2% to top the index on securing financing for a turnaround plan. UniCredit gained 8.6% after it raised its 2022 outlook and moved ahead with a proposed share buyback it had put on hold, helping Italy’s MIB index outperform its peers …