* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 1.1 percent early
* Oil stocks lead gainers despite lower crude prices
* Trading thin ahead of New Year break
By Rebekah Curtis
LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) - European stocks gained early on
Tuesday, boosted by advances in oil shares as most of the
region's bourses entered the last full-day session of 2008, a
dire year for investors.
At 0943 GMT the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <>
was up 1.1 percent at 819.36 points in thin trade ahead of the
New Year break.
Oil shares shrugged off lower crude prices and extended
their previous day's rally. BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell
<RDSa.L> and Total <TOTF.PA> added between 1.7 and 2.9 percent.
A number of European stock markets, including London and
Euronext's Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam bourses, will be open
for a half day on Dec. 31, while Tuesday will be the last
trading session for the year for German markets, with the DAX
closing at 1300 GMT and reopening on Friday, Jan 2.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
is on track to record a loss of about 46 percent in 2008, hit by
a crisis in the credit market that sparked a sharp global
economic slowdown.
"The sooner we can forget 2008 the better," said Howard
Wheeldon, senior strategist at BGC Partners. "I was negative
going into 2008, but if I'd have predicted that the stock market
would go down 46 pct this year I'm sure I'd have been carted off
to the mental asylum."
"We will end 2009 on the up," he added. "I'm quite confident
we will move into 2010 in a much better state, but between now
and then, my goodness we've got some nasty shocks."
Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <> added 0.8 percent,
while France's CAC <> and Germany's DAX <> both rose
1.7 percent.
The defensive pharmaceutical sector also rose, with
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, AstraZeneca <AZN.L> and Novartis
<NOVN.VX> up between 0.9 and 1.4 percent.
BANKS RISE
Banks were standout gainers, with Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>
up 3.5 percent and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> rising 4 percent.
But HBOS <HBOS.L> dropped 3.1 percent to top the losers on
the FTSE 100. Trustees of the pension scheme at the British bank
are considering taking legal action to delay its planned merger
with Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> until it gets guarantees on the
scheme's funding, the Financial Times said.
Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX> added 1 percent. The bank said it
had received a business permit from Chinese regulators to launch
a joint venture with Founder Securities that will sponsor and
underwrite shares and bonds in China.
Among other gainers, RWE npower <RWEG.DE> put on 1.7 percent
after saying it has secured grid connection rights for a new
nuclear power station at Wylfa in north Wales and acquired
options to buy farmland close to the existing nuclear power
station.
Rolls-Royce <RR.L> rose 1.2 percent. The Pentagon's daily
list of contract announcements Monday said the company was
awarded a $221.7 mln contract modification for MV-22 and CV-22
AE1107C engines for the U.S. Navy. []
On a quiet day for the economic and corporate diaries,
investors will eye U.S. Chicago PMI data due at 1445 GMT.
(Editing by David Cowell)
