* FTSEurofirst 300 gains 0.2 pct; hits 2-week high
* Financials among top gainers; miners lose ground
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - European shares bounced back to
a two-week high after a weaker start on Tuesday, with financials
gaining the most and UBS <UBSN.VX> jumping on news money poured
back into its core wealth management arm in the first quarter.
However, gains were capped by weaker miners on sharply lower
metals prices and some caution before a two-day meeting of the
U.S. Federal Reserve, to be followed by a press conference by
Fed chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday -- the first regularly
scheduled briefing by a Fed chief in its 97-year history.
At 0905 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,145.01 points after
touching 1,146.37, the highest since April 11. It fell to a low
of 1,138.95 earlier in the day, with the market opening after a
four-day Easter break.
Financials topped the gainers list, with the STOXX Europe
600 banking index <.SX7P> rising 0.5 percent and UBS <UBSN.VX>
jumping 5.7 percent. Allied Irish Banks <ALBK.I> rose 11.6
percent.
Miners, however, slipped, with the STOXX Europe 600 Basic
Materials index <.SXPP> down 1.1 percent and Antofagasta
<ANTO.L> falling 1.7 percent.
"It's going to be a low volume week because of the holidays
and the catalysts for it are on the one side the earnings season
in the U.S. and on the other side the conflict in Syria," said
Lothar Mentel, chief investment officer at Octopus Investments,
which manages 2.5 billion pounds ($4.12 billion).
"The markets are overall generally nervous. I don't think
the Fed is going to change its view massively because leading
indicators in the U.S. are weak at the moment; company earnings
may be strong but the outlook on the leading indicators is
starting to turn over."
The Fed is expected to affirm its plan to complete the
purchase of $600 billion in U.S. government debt. However, it is
likely to discuss how it will eventually exit from its extremely
easy monetary policy. []
"There are concerns that the Fed's loose monetary policy is
going to lead to inflation. Investors are cautious ahead of the
meeting and will look for signals related to the central bank's
possible moves," said Koen De Leus, strategist at KBC
Securities, in Brussels.
TECHNICAL PICTURE
Charts showed that the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index broke down
through its long-term uptrend last month. It has struggled to
move back up through that key trendline.
"Last week's gain was encouraging, not least because it
involved a successful examination of the 200-day moving average,
but the fact remains that the index is well below its highs for
the year," said Bill McNamara, analyst at Charles Stanley.
"And it really must exceed its recent closing peak at 1,148
to restore confidence."
Telecom shares were also in demand, with the sector index
<.SXKP> rising 0.3 percent in high volumes.
Among individual movers, Italian rival Parmalat <PLT.MI>
surged 11.6 percent as French dairy group Lactalis launched a
3.375 billion euro ($4.9 billion) takeover bid for the company.
Dutch insurer Aegon <AEGN.AS> rose 3.8 percent on news
French reinsurer Scor <SCOR.PA> is to pay $913 million for most
of its Transamerica Reinsurance operations to make it the second
largest U.S. life reinsurer.
(Editing by Hans Peters)
