* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.4 pct after 2-wk closing low on Wed
* Technology shares top the gainers list, Dassault jumps
* Miners gain, track stronger metals prices on weaker dollar
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - European shares bounced back in
morning trade on Thursday, with forecast-beating company results
underpinning the market and firmer metals prices on supply
concerns and a weaker dollar boosting mining shares.
At 0845 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.4 percent at 1,086.17 points after
falling 0.8 percent to a two-week closing low in the previous
session on doubts over the extent of a likely stimulus by the
U.S. Federal Reserve at its meeting next week.
Tech shares were the top gainers, with Dassault Systemes
<DAST.PA> jumping 7.9 percent as it lifted 2010 targets after a
strong third quarter. Aixtron <AIXGn.DE> gained 2.6 percent on
forecast-beating third quarter figures. ARM Holdings <ARM.L>,
Logitech <LOGN.VX> and Temenos <TEMN.S> rose 2.2 to 4.8 percent.
"Corporate results have been encouraging and market
sentiment still remains relatively robust," said Henk Potts,
equity strategist at Barclays Wealth.
"Sentiment seesaws between the positive corporate outlook in
the short term, although they tend to flat or slowdown into
2011, and the dark macro environment with the potential for
further storms ahead. Volatility continues to be the name of the
game."
Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> rose 1 percent after beating
analyst forecasts by reporting an 18 percent jump in
third-quarter profits, thanks to higher oil and gas prices.
[]
Miners featured among the top gainers as copper <CMCU3> and
aluminium <CMAL3> prices rose on the back of a weaker dollar.
BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L> and Rio Tinto <RIO.L>
rose 1.2 to 1.6 percent.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX <>
and France's CAC 40 <> gained 0.4 to 0.5 percent. The
Thomson Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index
<.TRXFLDPIPU> was up 0.5 percent.
TECHNICAL OUTLOOK
The technical picture improved as the 50-day moving average
of the Euro STOXX 50 <>, the euro zone's blue-chip
index, crossed to hover above its 200-day moving average, known
as a golden cross, in the previous session.
The upward momentum indicator last occurred in June 2009,
and the benchmark index climbed more than 20 percent in the
following four months. The index was up 0.5 percent on Thursday.
"The medium-term technical picture looks fine and is
supported by overall good reporting season," one technical
analyst said.
Among individual movers, Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> rose 1.3
percent after its third-quarter earnings beat estimates on all
fronts, helped by an increasing contribution from its growth
platforms including emerging markets, vaccines and diabetes.
[]
On the downside, AstraZeneca <AZN.L> slipped 1.9 percent as
its revenue fell 4 percent in the third quarter, hit by generic
competition to key drugs and the absence of last year's windfall
sales of swine flu vaccine. []
Santander <SAN.MC> fell 0.5 percent after the euro zone's
biggest bank said profit for 2010 would fall short of forecasts
after it put aside a greater-than-expected provision against
Spanish assets under new Bank of Spain rules. []
(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Michael Shields)
