* FTSEurofirst 300 index closes 1 percent higher
* Banks gain after Barclays' results please
* Oils rise as crude tops $77
* L'Oreal falls after results
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - European shares rose for the
sixth session in seven on Tuesday, with Barclays <BARC.L>
leading banks higher after it kicked off the UK sector's
reporting season with forecast-beating results.
Commodity shares gained on higher crude and metals prices,
which were helped by U.S. manufacturing data.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares rose 1 percent to 1,002.10 points, its highest close
since Feb. 3.
The index is down 4.2 percent this year, partly due to
worries about Greece's deficit, but is up more than 55 percent
from the lifetime low it hit on March 9, 2009.
"The cyclical tailwind is still intact, with good support
from economic data, as well as from companies' earnings," said
Tammo Greetfeld, equity strategist at UniCredit Group.
"But there is downside risk from how the Greek deficit
problems evolve."
Banks added the most points to the index. Barclays jumped
6.8 percent after the bank said it had started the year well
having beat expectations, with 2009 profits of over 11.6 billion
pounds ($18.18 billion). []
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> rose 5.3 percent after
JPMorgan <JP.N> said it was buying the non-U.S. assets of
commodities joint venture RBS Sempra from RBS and Sempra Energy
<SRE.N> for about $1.7 billion cash.
BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA> rose 2.8 percent ahead of results on
Wednesday.
Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX>, Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, HSBC
<HSBA.L>, Lloyds <LLOY.L> and Societe Generale <SOGN.PA> rose
between 1.6 and 4.7 percent.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index ended the day 1.5
percent higher; Germany's DAX <> rose 1.5 percent and
France's CAC 40 <> 1.7 percent respectively.
Wall Street, which was closed on Monday for a holiday, was
higher around the time European bourses were closing. The Dow
Jones <>, S&P 500 <.SPX> and Nasdaq Composite <> were
up between 0.8 and 1 percent.
A gauge of manufacturing in New York state rose in February
as inventories jumped, the New York Federal Reserve said in a
report on Tuesday. The New York Fed's "Empire State" general
business conditions index rose to 24.91 in February from 15.92
in January. []
MINERS GAIN
Miners were in favour as copper <MCU3=LX> rose more than 3
percent, and other metals gained.
Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP Billiton
<BLT.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> and Vedanta <VED.L> were 3.1 to 5.2
percent higher.
On the downside, French company L'Oreal <OREP.PA> fell 4.7
percent, having announced fourth-quarter sales below forecasts
late on Monday. []
Flavours and fragrances maker Givaudan <GIVN.VX> slipped 3.7
percent after it posted a full-year net profit of 199 million
Swiss francs ($185.3 million), while analysts in a Reuters poll
had expected 205 million francs. []
European ministers told Greece on Tuesday it may need to
take further steps to bring a swollen debt under control and
calm "irrational" financial markets, as wage cuts already
announced by Athens sparked another strike. []
In other economic news, German analyst and investor
sentiment fell less sharply than expected in February, a closely
watched survey showed, suggesting Europe's largest economy may
be more resilient than feared. []
(Editing by Sharon Lindores)
