* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.3 pct, gains for 4th day
* Miners, oils rise on stronger commodity prices
* Financials among top losers; BT drags down telecoms
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - European shares ended higher on
Thursday as stronger commodity stocks outpaced a sharp decline
in banks, which slipped following uncertainties over the shape
of a deal to rescue debt-laden Greece.
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
rose for a fourth straight session to close 0.3 percent higher
at 990.51 points after a choppy session that saw the index
hovering in a broad range of 980.16 to 997.26.
Trading volumes on the FTSEurofirst 300 and Britain's FTSE
100 index <> were more than 140 percent of their 90-day
daily average, while volume on France's CAC 40 <> was 198
percent of its three-month daily average.
Miners got strength from higher metal prices, with copper
<MCU3> jumping 6 percent, nickel <MNI3> gaining 3.4 percent and
zinc <MZN3> rising 3.2 percent. BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo
American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>,
Xstrata <XTA.L> and ENRC <ENRC.L> rose 0.8 to 2.4 percent.
But banks were the top decliners, with Banco Santander
<SAN.MC>, Banco de Valencia <BVA.MC>, Bankinter <BKT.MC>,
Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA>, Alpha Bank
<ACBr.AT> and Barclays <BARC.L> down 2.2 to 4.1 percent.
Spain's IBEX 35 share index <> fell 1.7 percent.
"Greece is still at the forefront of concerns and once again
seemed to be the main cause of the market jitters, with still no
concrete plans apparent from the EU to help the country out,"
said Phil Gillett, sales trader at IG Index.
"But it does look like at least some progress is being made,
which calmed a few nerves later. The hope is that if some sort
of plan is put in place to stabilise the Greek situation, then
equity markets will continue to build on the base that has been
made, one way or another, over recent days."
European leaders struck a deal to provide financial aid to
Greece, in an unprecedented move to stave off a broader crisis
in the 16-nation bloc that shares the euro single currency.
[]
Details of the package were not expected to be finalised
until early next week, when EU finance ministers meet, but the
bloc's leaders suggested it could include some form of loans to
Greece to help it service its debt and avoid a damaging default.
"There is still some nervousness. Markets could also perhaps
realise more and more that there may be a bailout (for Greece)
but it will come at a cost and the cost is that they really have
to be tough on the fiscal side," said Klaus Wiener, head of
research at Generali Investments.
"When we look at the pillars of growth that we had over the
last months, it was really fiscal spending. Now if countries
have to go into reverse, that's not boding well for the growth
momentum," he added.
DATA, CRUDE PRICES SUPPORT
The market also got support from data showing the number of
U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless benefits
tumbled last week, reversing a recent spike that had raised
concerns about renewed labour market weakness. []
Energy shares tracked stronger crude <CLc1>, which rose 1.2
percent on an upbeat oil demand growth forecast by the Energy
Information Administration. [] BP <BP.L>, Royal
Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>, Tullow Oil <TLW.L>, Total
<TOTF.PA> and StatoilHydro <STL.OL> added 0.9 to 2.5 percent.
But telecoms were led lower by BT Group <BT.L>, which fell
8.8 percent as a potentially lengthy row over pensions
overshadowed solid third-quarter results. [] Cable
& Wireless <CW.L>, Telefonica <TEF.MC>, Carphone Warehouse
<CPW.L> and France Telecom <FTE.PA> fell 0.8 to 2.8 percent.
Among individual movers, Alcatel-Lucent <ALUA.PA> fell 11.8
percent after posting a wider-than-forecast loss, missing
revenue expectations and cutting its 2010 operating margin
target, buffeted by a tough market for telecommunications gear.
Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA> sank 11.2 percent after it warned
of heavy losses during the current quarter, blunting hopes of an
airline sector recovery. []
(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Hans Peters)
