* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.5 pct
* News of strong export numbers from China boosts sentiment
* Inditex higher after forecast-beating results
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - European shares rose in early
trade on Wednesday, after three sessions of falls, as news of
strong export numbers from China in May rekindled hopes for a
global economic recovery, while retailer Inditex <ITX.MC> rose
after posting forecast-beating first-quarter profits.
By 0855 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <>
index of top shares was up 0.4 percent at 984.31 points,
rebounding from a 1 percent fall on Wednesday.
Chinese exports in May grew about 50 percent from a year
earlier, sources said, a figure that blew past expectations and
reassured investors who were concerned that Europe's debt
problems could dampen demand for Asian goods. []
Analysts said concerns over sovereign debt problems in the
euro zone and the impact of austerity measures on economic
growth in the region remained a worry on investors minds and
could signal further weakness ahead for European equities.
FTSEurofirst 300 index has lost around 11 percent since
mid-April as investors abandoned riskier assets as the crisis
took hold.
"After three down days you get some relief and markets pause
but the well known problems around the debt crisis are still
there and there's no relief from that," said Bernard McAlinden,
investment strategist at NCB Stockbrokers in Dublin.
"Markets want to see where the end-game for this crisis is
and the implication for the European banking system. They want
to see policy action that's more final and definitive than we've
seen so far."
Among individual movers, Inditex <ITX.MC> rose 4.8 percent
as the owner of fashion chain Zara returned to double-digit
growth in its first quarter, posting a 63 percent rise in net
profit thanks to strong sales and positive currency effects.
[]
Technology stocks found support after U.S. peer Texas
Instruments said it had seen no slowing in demand in Europe,
despite economic turmoil and currency weakness, and that its
second-quarter earnings and revenue would be at the high end of
its previous estimates. []
Capgemini <CAPP.PA>, Alcatel-Lucent <ALUA.PA>, ASML
<ASML.AS> and STMicroelectronics <STM.PA> rose 0.1 to 1.1
percent.
BP PRESSURED AGAIN
Shares in BP <BP.L> came under renewed selling pressure,
down another 2.2 percent, as the oil major forged ahead with
efforts to capture oil gushing from its Gulf of Mexico well.
The spill remained high on Washington's radar screen, with
several congressional hearings set for Wednesday.[]
On the upside, banks were among the biggest gainers,
rebounding from sharp falls in the previous session.
HSBC <HSBA.L>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>, BNP Paribas
<BNPP.PA> and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> rose 0.4 to 1.2 percent.
Banco Santander <SAN.MC> was up 0.2 percent after it said it
was to pay $2.5 billion for the 24.9 percent of Santander Mexico
it does not own, the latest in a raft of acquisitions made by
the Spanish bank in the past 18 months.
In a further development on financial reform, Berlin and
Paris urged the European Commission to consider an EU-wide ban
on short selling of shares and sovereign bonds in a display of
solidarity that may ease concerns over recent Franco-German
policy splits. []
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> rose 0.1 to 0.4 percent.
(Editing by Greg Mahlich)
