* FTSEurofirst 300 <> rises 1 percent
* Strong manufacturing data from EZ, China boosts sentiment
* Banks, miners rise
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - European shares rose in early
trade on Thursday, hitting fresh 18-month highs as upbeat
manufacturing data from Europe and China fuelled optimism about
the global economic recovery, with banks and miners rising.
By 0839 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index
of top shares rose 1 percent to 1,089.13 points, the highest
level since early October 2008. Volumes were low, at 16 percent
of the daily average for the previous 90 days, as Europe heads
into the Easter holiday weekend.
The index, which is up around 69 percent from its record low
in March 2009, gained 3.1 percent in the first quarter after
rising in the previous three quarters.
Banks were the biggest gainers on the index, with Barclays
<BARC.L>, HSBC <HSBA.L>, Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>, BNP Paribas
<BNPP.PA> and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> up 0.5 to 1.3 percent.
Manufacturing activity in the euro zone grew at its fastest
pace in over three years last month, and faster than previously
recorded, as output continued its upwards march, a survey showed
on Thursday. []
Two business surveys showed China's manufacturing sector
moved up a gear last month as orders rose, signalling brisk
first-quarter GDP growth. []
"The data looks encouraging. The knock-on effect is in terms
of Chinese expenditure. You've seen more imports going into
China as a result of a lot of the infrastructure work being done
and that impacts directly into a lot of European companies,"
said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment
Management.
Miners were also higher, supported by stronger metals prices
which rose on improving demand sentiment. Anglo American
<AAL.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Xstrata
<XTA.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L> were up 1.5 to 2.6 percent.
Among individual movers, Technip <TECF.PA> was up 2.8
percent. The company said it won two contracts worth a combined
115 million euros from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. for
a diesel hydrotreater project in the Visakh refinery, on the
east coast of India
BMW <BMWG.DE> rose 2.8 percent after Credit Suisse upgraded
the stock to "outperform" from "underperform" and raised its
price target.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> rose 0.7 to 1 percent.
RECOVERY HOPES
Highlighting the improving manufacturing activity in the
euro zone, a jump in output and new orders helped German
manufacturing activity to expand in March at its fastest pace
since April 2000
In Switzerland, the manufacturing sector hit its highest
level in three years, and France's factory activity grew at by
its fastest pace in 40 months.
British manufacturing activity grew last month at its
fastest rate since October 1994, when the economy was also
recovering from a deep recession, a survey of purchasing
managers showed.
Focus later in the session is likely to turn to U.S. initial
jobless claims which will be keenly watched ahead of the key
nonfarm payrolls numbers due on Friday when major equity markets
are closed.
On Wednesday, a U.S. private sector employment report showed
employers unexpectedly shed jobs in March, dampening hopes about
the strength of the country's economic recovery.
(Editing by Hans Peters)
