* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.6 pct, rebounds from 1-week sell-off
* EADS falls after losing U.S. Air Force refueling contract
* Trading on London Stock Exchange halted due to glitches
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, Feb 25 (Reuters) - European stocks rose in early
trade on Friday, taking a breather after a week-long retreat,
but ongoing turmoil in OPEC producer Libya kept gains in check.
Trading in British shares was halted at the open on Friday
due to technical issues. Bourse operator London Stock Exchange
<LSE.L> could not say when the market would reopen.
At 0922 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.6 percent at 1,152.52 points, after
losing 3.5 percent over the past week.
"The Libyan crisis really brought back the geopolitical
risks at the forefront of investors' minds. That being said,
this week's pull-back has been serious and we're getting close
to a floor here," said David Thebault, head of quantitative
sales trading, at Global Equities in Paris.
The U.N. Security Council was to meet on Friday to discuss a
draft proposal for sanctions against Libyan leaders, and despite
assurances by Saudi Arabia that it would step in to fill any
shortfall, oil prices resumed their rally on Friday, lifted by
fears of output disruptions.
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For a take-a-look on the crisis: []
For graphics: http://r.reuters.com/nym77r
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Shares in EADS <EAD.PA> featured among the top losers, down
1.8 percent after the Airbus parent lost a $30 billion contract
for 179 new U.S. Air Force refueling planes to U.S. rival Boeing
<BA.N>. []
Shares in construction and building materials gained ground,
as investors cheered Saint-Gobain's <SGOB.PA> strong results and
outlook. Saint-Gobain gained 4.6 percent, Eiffage <FOUG.PA> rose
1.9 percent, and CRH <CRH.I> added 2.2 percent.
Around Europe, Germany's DAX index <> was up 0.3
percent, France's CAC 40 <> up 0.7 percent and Spain's IBEX
35 <> up 1 percent. Italy's benchmark FTSE MIB <.FTMIB>,
hammered earlier in the week because of the exposure of a number
of Italian companies to Libya, was up 1.2 percent.
The euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 <> index
was up 0.4 percent at 2,960.76 points, bouncing back after
finding strong support on its 50-day moving average on Thursday.
"It's too early to say if this is the bottom of the
pull-back ... but there is a high probability that the recent
rally has created a solid top," said Alexandre Le Drogoff,
technical analyst at Aurel BGC, in Paris.
"The DAX 30 has broken out of its upward channel, and we've
turned negative on the short term on this market."
The VDAX-NEW volatility index <.V1XI>, Europe's main
barometer of investor anxiety, was down 4.2 percent on Friday,
taking a breather after a 35 percent jump earlier in the week.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Hans Peters)
