* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 1.8 pct, rebounds from 2-month low
* Recently-hit banks bounce back; RBS up 18 pct
* BT sinks 12 pct after unveiling hefty charges
* Energy stocks advance as crude rise above $44 a barrel
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, Jan 22 (Reuters) - European stocks rose 1.8 percent
in early trade on Thursday to bounce back from two-month lows,
led by rallying banks such as UBS <UBSN.VX> and energy stocks
that tracked firmer oil prices higher.
At 0915 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 1.8 percent at 783.36 points.
The benchmark index, which had fallen in ten of the past 11
sessions, is still down 5.8 percent in 2009, knocked lower by
fears over the impact of the credit crisis on banks' balance
sheets.
"The market is yo-yoing again. The good news is it hasn't
touched new lows, and all the bad news is already priced in,"
said Marc Touati, chief economist at Global Equities in Paris.
"Stocks will start rallying as soon as the newsflow will
turn out to be better than what people had feared."
UBS gained 8 percent, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> rose 10
percent, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> jumped 18 percent, and
Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> gained 9.7 percent.
The DJ Stoxx banking index <.SX7P> surged 5.4 percent. But
despite Thursday's rally, the sector is still down 17 percent on
the year, after plummeting 65 percent in 2008.
Energy stocks also gained ground, helped by buoyant oil
prices, gaining ground on expectations of supply cuts by OPEC.
BP <BP.L> rose 2.4 percent, Total <TOTF.PA> added 3.5
percent and Repsol <REP.MC> gained 3.6 percent.
French car maker PSA Peugeot Citroen <PEUP.PA> surged 7.4
percent. Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Fiat <FIA.MI>
founding family is weighing a capital increase of about 2
billion euros ($2.6 billion) with an eye to a possible merger
with France's Peugeot. Fiat was down 4.2 percent.
Both Fiat and Peugeot declined to comment.
CHINESE GROWTH SLOWS
Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index <> was up 1.5
percent, Germany's DAX index <> up 1.7 percent, and
France's CAC 40 <> up 1.7 percent.
On the downside, British telecoms group BT <BT.L> slid 12
percent to top European losers after it said its third quarter
performance had been hit by charges at BT Global Services.
Investors shrugged off fresh signs the global economy was
sliding into a deeper downturn. Data on Thursday showed China's
economic growth --the world's main growth engine in recent
years-- slowed sharply, with annual growth falling to 6.8
percent in the fourth quarter from 9.0 percent in the third,
while in Japan, exports plunged a record amount in December.
"With the global economy struggling, it isn't a surprise to
see Chinese growth slowing down a bit. But China will show
resilience, thanks to the government's stimulus plan and other
measures," Touati at Global Equities said.
Investors were eagerly awaiting earnings by tech bellwether
Nokia <NOK1V.HE>, expected during the session. The market will
look for detail on the extent of damage from the global slowdown
on corporate results.
Sony <6758.T> and LG Electronics warned of big losses on
Thursday, underlining weakness in the consumer electronics
market as demand tumbles in the deep global slowdown.
But better-than-expected results from IBM <IBM.N> as well as
Apple <AAPL.O> reassured investors. U.S. stocks rebounded on
Wednesday, helped by a surprisingly healthy earnings report from
IBM, released late on Tuesday, while Apple posted
forecast-beating quarterly profit on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson, editing by Dan Lalor)
