* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 1.8 pct, up 10 pct since March 9
* Rally led by recently beaten-down banks, insurers
* Miners rising along with metal prices on China hopes
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, March 13 (Reuters) - European stocks rose in early
trade on Friday, gaining ground for a fourth day in a row, on
easing fears over banks and after signs of stabilisation in U.S.
consumer spending that fuelled a sharp rise on Wall Street.
Banking and insurance stocks led the rally, after U.S.
lender Citigroup <C.N> said the bank does not need any more
emergency cash from the government and expects to stay private,
while rival Bank of America <BAC.N> said it was profitable in
January and February, calming worries over the faith of the two
stricken banks and the financial system in general.
At 0930 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 1.8 percent at 709.34 points. The index
has gained 10 percent since hitting an all-time low on March 9,
but is still down 14.7 percent this year, hit by the rapidly
escalating global economic downturn.
"The technical rebound we have seen over the past few days
could soon be over as people will be keen to book profits," said
Alexandre Le Drogoff, technical analyst at Aurel BGC.
"We will revisit the recent floor before we get any real
recovery. Meanwhile, the market will probably be yo-yoing in the
next few sessions."
Banks and insurers, which had been the most hammered stocks
so far this year, led the rally on Friday, with Societe Generale
<SOGN.PA> up 6.3 percent, Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX> up 8.2
percent, Barclays <BARC.L> up 7.9 percent and AXA <AXAF.PA> up 2
percent.
Despite the recent rebound, the DJ Stoxx bank <.SX7P> and
insurance <.SXIP> indexes are still down 26 percent and 34
percent respectively in 2009.
Mining shares, which have shown resilience so far this year,
were also surging on Friday, gaining ground along with metal
prices on hopes over the outlook for the Chinese economy,
fuelled by comments from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Wen held out the prospect of extra stimulus spending if
needed to hit China's 8 percent growth goal this year.
Xstrata <XTA.L> was up 9.8 percent, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> rose
5.5 percent and Anglo American <AAL.L> up 4.7 percent.
The DJ Stoxx basic resources index <.SXPP> is up 3.9 percent
so far this year -- Europe's only sector in positive territory
in 2009.
ALCATEL-LUCENT RISES ON UPBEAT COMMENTS
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index <> was up 1.7
percent, Germany's DAX index <> up 1.4 percent, and
France's CAC 40 <> up 1.9 percent.
French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent <ALUA.PA>
rose 12 percent after its financial head told French daily Les
Echos the firm is aiming to achieve a net profit most likely in
the second half of 2010.
Swiss Life <SLHN.VX> jumped 11 percent. The insurer said on
Friday it was in talks with German insurer Talanx over the Swiss
group's 24 percent stake in pensions specialist MLP <MLPG.DE>,
which a source told Reuters it wants to cut to below 10 percent.
U.S. stocks sharply rose on Thursday, after helped by data
showing sales at U.S. retailers fell by a smaller-than-expected
margin in February after a surprise gain the prior month.
But despite the market's recent rally and better-than-feared
data, analysts remain worried about the prospect for economic
growth and corporate profits in the years to come.
"While some re-rating is likely, equity market multiples are
unlikely to revert to long-term averages soon despite low
interest rates. Tepid trend growth and the absence of strong
long-term valuation support suggest average equity returns are
also likely to be more modest, on average, in the coming years
than historic averages," UBS analysts wrote in a note.
Investors will keep an eye on the G20 meeting over the
weekend, hoping for more coordinated action to tackle the global
economic slowdown.
Washington is urging the biggest industrialised countries to
spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product to boost demand
and pull the global economy out of its tailspin, but France and
Germany have rejected U.S. and British calls for fresh spending.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Hans Peters)
