* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.2 pct after six sessions of declines
* TUI Travel jumps 4.5 percent after bookings update
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Oct 5 (Reuters) - European shares edged higher on
Tuesday to snap a six-session losing streak, with a surprise
rise in British services activity improving sentiment and a jump
in TUI Travel <TT.L> on booking numbers boosting travel stocks.
At 1059 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,052.60 points after
rising to a high of 1,056.68 earlier in the session and hitting
a one-month low on Monday.
Ireland's benchmark <.ISEQ> rose 0.6 percent, shrugging off
Moody's Investors Service's warning it may cut the country's
credit rating again, citing the huge bill for cleaning up its
banks announced last week. []
Travel and leisure shares featured among the top gainers,
with the European sector index <.SXTP> rising 0.3 percent after
TUI Travel, Europe's largest travel company, said holiday
bookings for winter and next summer were encouraging.
TUI shares jumped 4.5 percent, while Ryanair <RYA.I>,
FirstGroup <FGP.L> and Thomas Cook <TCG.L> advanced by between
0.4 percent and 1.9 percent.
"It feels like a tug of war between the bulls and bears. As
we are approaching the beginning of the next earnings season,
the market is a bit unnerved," said Lothar Mentel, chief
investment officer at Octopus Investments.
"People are looking at the technical indicators and a lot of
these models are giving buy signals. Technicals are improving
every day."
The Euro STOXX 50 <>, the euro zone's blue-chip
index, rose 0.4 percent to 2,710.56 points to hover near its
50-day moving average, now at 2,738.58. The index faces strong
resistance at its 50-percent Fibonacci retracement of the
index's fall from an April high to a May low at 2,737.62.
MACRO LIFT
The market also got some support from macroeconomic numbers,
with a survey showing British services activity growth
unexpectedly accelerated in September from a 16-month low.
Later in the week, investors will focus on U.S. non-farm
payrolls on Friday, and interest rate decisions from the Bank of
England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday.
"With the ECB and BoE set to deliver their rate verdicts and
the spectre of further QE measures out of the U.S. Federal
Reserve, there's an awful lot of uncertainty in play and this
can be expected to limit gains for stocks," said Ben Critchley,
sales trader at IG Index.
The STOXX Europe 600 Financial Services index <.SXFP> rose
0.7 percent, with asset manager Azimut <AZMT.MI> rising 2.7
percent after Equita added the stock to its recommended
stock-picking portfolio.
Man Group <EMG.L>, Henderson <HGGH.L> and Deutsche Boerse
<DB1Gn.DE> gained between 1.2 percent and 3.1 percent.
Among individual movers, British satellite company Inmarsat
<ISA.L> fell 4.2 percent after U.S. hedge fund Harbinger Capital
Partners said it has sold a 14.1 percent stake in the company.
Tesco <TSCO.L> fell 0.8 percent. The world's third-biggest
retailer said it believes the global economy is recovering
strongly and growth in emerging markets will help to prevent
developed economies from falling back into recession.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> were flat to 0.6 percent
higher. The Thomson Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index
<.TRXFLDPIPU> was up 1.2 percent.
"It's a modest bounce after a poor day yesterday," said
Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank. "But we are in a
range-trading environment and investors are still looking at
what is happening in the economy and how earnings will be."
(Additional reporting by Harro Ten Wolde and Joanne Frearson;
editing by David Hulmes)
