* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.9 percent
* Energy shares, drugmakers among top gainers
* Banks give up early gains to turn negative
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - European shares advanced for a
fifth straight session on Friday, boosted by stronger drugmakers
and energy shares, as the European Union's pledge to support
debt-laden Greece calmed jittery investors.
Risk appetite returned, with the VDAX-NEW volatility index
<.V1XI> down 4.8 percent to one-week lows. The lower the index,
which is based on sell and buy options on Frankfurt's top-30
stocks <0#.GDAXI>, the higher the market's desire to take risk.
At 0904 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.9 percent at 999.43 points after
climbing above 1,000 earlier in the session. It has surged 55
percent since hitting a record low in early March last year.
Energy shares were among the top gainers. BP <BP.L>, Royal
Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, BG Group <BG.L>, Tullow Oil <TLW.L>,
Repsol <REP.MC>, Total <TOTF.PA> and StatoilHydro <STL.OL> added
0.1 to 1.6 percent.
But disappointment over the lack of detailed plans to help
Greece in its struggle to bring its ballooning budget deficit
under control was seen limiting gains in the equity market.
"We are in a very volatile environment. It's purely a
technical rally and if economic figures disappoint, we are going
to go down again. We will go one step forward and two steps
backward," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities.
"Now the markets will look for the next victim and will go
after countries such as Portugal and Spain. And this will happen
in the course of the next months and will keep the markets very
volatile," he added.
The International Monetary Fund pledged support for Greece,
while European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said
the European Central Bank and the European Commission will join
forces to monitor Greece and to draw up "necessary additional
measures".[]
European leaders on Thursday sought to prop up debt-laden
Greece with words of support but offered no specific rescue
plan, disappointing markets and sending both the euro and Greek
government bonds lower.
Banks gave up early gains to turn negative. HSBC <HSBA.L>,
Barclays <BARC.L>, BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Credit Agricole
<CAGR.PA>, Natixis <CNAT.PA>, UBS <UBSN.VX>, BBVA <BBVA.MC> and
Bankinter <BKT.MC> fell 0.2 to 1.1 percent.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index <>, Germany's
DAX <> and France's CAC 40 <> were 0.6 to 0.8 percent
higher.
PHARMA UP, DATA EYED
Pharmaceutical shares were in demand, with AstraZeneca
<AZN.L>, GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, Merck <MRCG.DE>, Novartis
<NOVN.VX>, Novo Nordisk <NOVOb.CO>, Roche Holding <ROG.VX>,
Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> and Shire <SHP.L> rising 0.2 to 1.4
percent.
Investors awaited more economic numbers during the session,
including U.S. retails sales for January, due at 1330 GMT, and a
preliminary February consumer sentiment index report from
Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers at 1455 GMT.
In Europe, German gross domestic product showed no growth in
the final quarter of last year, leaving Europe's largest economy
on a weak footing going into 2010. []
Among individual movers, SES <SESFd.PA>, the world's second
largest satellite operator, rose 5.1 percent after forecasting
around 5 percent growth in revenue and core profit in 2010 after
2009 results just topped expectations. []
ThyssenKrupp <TKAG.DE>, Germany's biggest steelmaker, rose
3.4 percent. Cost cuts, improving demand and higher prices
helped easily beat market expectations for adjusted pretax
profit in the quarter to December. []
French tyre manufacturer Michelin <MICP.PA> fell 1.9 percent
after the company said it was "extremely vigilant" because of
low market visibility and rising raw material prices at the
start of 2010, as restructuring costs hit its 2009 net profit.
[]
(Editing by Mike Nesbit)
