European shares gain on China data; Repsol up

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 index up 0.4 percent
                                
 * Repsol, BG Group, Galp jump after Sinopec deal
                                
 * Strong China manufacturing data boosts stocks
                                
 * For up-to-the minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
                                
 
                                
 By Joanne Frearson
                                
 LONDON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday
after strong China manufacturing data pleased investors, while
the Spanish energy giant Repsol <REP.MC> gained as it agreed a
joint venture with China's Sinopec <0386.HK>.
                                
 Energy stocks featured among the top movers. Oil major
Repsol jumped 5.6 percent after Chinese refiner Sinopec Group
agreed to pay $7.1 billion for 40 percent of Repsol's Brazilian
oil deposits.
                                
 Both BG Group <BG.L> and Galp <GALP.LS> gained 4.9 percent
and 5.4 percent respectively as traders cited read-across from
the Reposl and Sinopec deal.
                                
 By 0859 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3>
index of top shares was 0.4 percent higher at 1,065.59 points,
after slipping 0.4 percent on Thursday.
                                
 "The China data was positive and will be very good for
companies exporting into the country," Heino Ruland, strategist
at Frankfurt-based Ruland Research, said.
                                
 Chinese manufacturing gathered momentum last month, with the
official purchasing managers' index rising to 53.8 from 51.7 in
August, beating forecasts and providing further evidence the
economy is pulling smoothly out of a second-quarter swoon.
[ID:nTOE690012]
                                
 Miners were also in demand after the China data boosted
recovery hopes, with the STOXX Europe 600 Basic Materials
<.SXPP> index up 1.1 percent. Anglo American <AAL.L>, Rio Tinto
<RIO.L> and BHP Billiton <BLT.L> were 1 to 1.5 percent higher.
                                
 
                                
 SACYR JUMPS
                                
 Meanwhile, Spanish builder Sacyr Vallehermoso <SVO.MC>, a
leading shareholder of Repsol <REP.MC>, climbed 12.5 percent on
news of the oil giant's $17.8 billion joint venture in Brazil.
                                
 Later in the session investors will look at the final
reading of the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment
index for September, which will be released at 1355 GMT.
                                
 The U.S. Institute for Supply Management (ISM) will release
its September manufacturing index at 1400 GMT. Economists in a
Reuters survey said they expected a reading of 54.5 versus 56.3
in August.
                                
 "Ultimately the equity market seems to be stuck within a
range and after the U.S. ISM manufacturing data the equity
markets could change direction," Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at
ETX Capital said.
                                
 The technical picture showed the Euro STOXX 50 <.STOXX50E>,
the euro zone's blue-chip index, was facing some resistance. The
index rose 0.7 percent to 2,767.97 points, just under its
200-day moving average of 2,773.08 points.
                                
 The one-year forward price-to-earnings valuations on the
STOXX Europe 600 <.STOXX> stood at about 10.49 against a 10-year
average of 13.57, Thomson Reuters Datastream showed.
                                
 Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> index was 0.8 percent
higher, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> gained 0.8 percent and France's
CAC 40 <.FCHI> was up 0.6 percent.
  (Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Sharon Lindores)