* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.2 pct in morning trade
* Index on track to record quarterly gain of 3.4 pct
* Bank of Ireland surges 27 pct on private cap hike news
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, March 31 (Reuters) - European stocks edged higher
early on Wednesday, heading for their fourth consecutive
quarterly gain, led by rallying banks while steady oil prices
boosted energy stocks.
Bank of Ireland <BKIR.I> soared 27 percent after saying it
was in talks with investment banks to raise capital to plug a
hole left by property loan sales to the Irish bad bank, the
National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).
At 0837 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European
shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,081.69 points. The benchmark
index had a roller-coaster session on Tuesday, hitting an
18-month high before surrendering gains and ending the day flat.
The index, which is up around 68 percent from its record low
hit in March 2009, is on track to record a gain of 3.4 percent
for the quarter.
But the market has been stuck in a range over the past week.
"Markets were rocky at the peak of the Greek crisis, but now
volumes have fallen again, the newsflow has dried up, there is
no catalyst," said Jacques Henry, analyst at Louis Capital
Markets, in Paris.
"Unless we get some sort of surprise on the macro data
front, like with the payrolls this week, the market might move
sideways for a bit."
Investors remained cautious ahead of monthly ADP employment
report, expected at 1215 GMT on Wednesday. The data is usually
seen as a harbinger for the key U.S. non-farm payrolls numbers,
due later in the week.
The median forecast for U.S. nonfarm payrolls is for a rise
of 190,000 in March after falling 36,000 in February.
[]
Oil futures gained ground, up 5 cents at $82.43 a barrel,
boosted by hopes of a recovery in demand. Total <TOTF.PA> added
0.6 percent, Repsol <REP.MC> gained 0.5 percent and ENI <ENI.MI>
rose 0.3 percent.
Mining shares reversed early losses and moved higher, with
Anglo American <AAL.L> up 1.2 percent, Eramet <ERMT.PA> up 1
percent and Xstrata <XTA.L> up 1 percent.
Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index <> gained 0.4
percent, Germany's DAX index <> rose 0.2 percent, and
France's CAC 40 <> added 0.2 percent.
Anglo-Dutch household products giant Unilever <ULVR.L>
<UNc.AS> climbed 2.1 percent in both London and Amsterdam,
lifted by an upgrade in rating by BofA Merrill Lynch to "buy"
from "neutral" on valuation grounds.
With the FTSEurofirst 300 hitting an 18-month high on
Tuesday, stocks in the index trade at an average of 14.6 times
earnings, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Despite modest gains made by stocks so far this quarter, the
average price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of European stocks has
been drifting lower since peaking at 15.9 in mid-January,
following relatively strong corporate results.
This compares with a current P/E ratio of 17.5 percent for
Wall Street's S&P 500 index <.SPX>.
(Editing by Sharon Lindores)
