* FTSEurofirst 300 index gains 0.7 percent
* Credit Agricole jumps after results beat forecasts
* L'Oreal surges after forecast-beating results
* For up-to-the minute market news, click on []
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Thursday,
bouncing back from a five-week low in the previous session as
forecast beating results from Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA> and
L'Oreal <OREP.PA> boosted investor sentiment.
Banking stocks were in demand. French lender Credit Agricole
rose 3.5 percent after it soundly beat second-quarter revenue
and profit expectations. []
Barclays <BARC.L>, Banco Santander <SAN.MC> and Bank of
Ireland <BKIR.I> gained 1.7 to 4 percent.
By 0832 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <>
index of top shares was 0.7 percent higher at 1,018 points after
hitting a five-week closing low on Wednesday as poor U.S. data
sparked worries about the global economic recovery.
Volumes on the index were thin at just 10.8 percent of its
average 90-day volume.
"Markets in thin volumes get spooked by adverse macro
economic news, but things do not look as bad as they are made
out to be and the markets have bounced back," said Lothar
Mentel, chief investment officer at Octopus Investments.
Elsewhere, cosmetics major L'Oreal jumped 4.3 percent after
it posted forecast-beating first-half results late on Wednesday,
helped by growth in demand for its cosmetics, an upturn in
consumer spending and cost cuts. []
French hotel group Accor <ACCP.PA> gained 6.2 percent after
it more than doubled first-half operating profit thanks to cost
cuts and forecast significant earnings growth for the full year.
[]
KAZAKHMYS RISES
Miners featured among the top movers. Kazakh copper miner
Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> rose 3.3 percent, after reporting an expected
130 percent rise in underlying first-half earnings per share and
robust outlook.
Other miners were also higher, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, BHP
Billiton <BLT.L>, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
<ENRC.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> were up 1.5 to
2.1 percent.
The Euro STOXX 50 <>, the euro zone's blue chip
index, was up 0.5 percent at 2,600.25 points, holding above a
key support level, the 23.6 percent retracement of the index's
fall from a high in April to a low in May after testing it in
the previous session.
Valuations on the Euro STOXX 50E looked cheap. It's
one-year forward price-to-earnings stood at 9.3 against a
10-year average of 14.2, Thomson Reuters Datastream showed.
"Companies have been reporting reasonable results," said
David Buik, partner at BGC Partners. "But, whether a rally can
be sustained is to be seen, there is nothing to say the bad news
is all over, U.S. jobless claims are likely to be
disappointing."
U.S. weekly jobless claims are due out at 1230 GMT, with
recent economic data pointing to a slowdown in growth.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index was 0.6 percent
higher, Germany's DAX <> was up 0.3 percent and France's
CAC 40 <> gained 0.5 percent.
(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)
