* FTSEurofirst 300 gains 0.8 pct after five days of decline
* Miners up on stronger metals prices, Alcoa results
* U.S. jobless claims lower than forecast
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - European share markets closed
higher on Thursday, bouncing after five days of losses, with
miners and banks among those regaining some lost ground, .
The FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top European shares
was up 0.8 percent at 823.32 points, below its high for the day
of 829.88 and after falling for five sessions in a row.
The benchmark is up more than 27 percent form the lifetime
low in early March but the rally stalled last month on concerns
about the pace of global economic recovery and corporate
profits. The index hit a 10-week closing low on Wednesday.
"Markets are gaining back some of the losses, but the choppy
performance will continue," said Gerhard Schwarz, head of global
equity strategy at UniCredit, in Munich.
The market is likely to stay in a consolidation phase for
some time, rather than see any major correction on the downside,
he added.
Miners rose as the price of copper and other metals rose
sharply, following recent weakness.
Anglo American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L>, Rio Tinto
<RIO.L> and Xstrata <XTA.L> rose between 2.6 and 5.6 percent.
Fresnillo <FRES.L> rose 10.1 percent after Citigroup raised
its rating to "buy" from "hold".
The sector was also boosted by strong results from U.S.
aluminium giant Alcoa <AA.N>, which opened the second-quarter
reporting season late on Wednesday.
Investors continue to face mixed signals on the strength of
economic recovery. The number of U.S. workers filing new claims
for jobless benefits fell sharply last week though the data was
distorted by an unusual pattern of layoffs in the automotive
industry, which amplified the decline. []
One reason for the market's poor performance in recent days
was U.S. unemployment numbers released on July 2 coming in well
above forecasts.
The heavyweight banking sector added most points to the
index.
UBS <UBSN.VX> ended 2.9 percent higher as investors bet the
United States would not go as far as shutting down UBS there in
a dispute over tax, instead expecting the Swiss bank to be hit
by a hefty fine as part of a swift out-of-court settlement.
[]
Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> gained 4.6 percent after DZ Bank
added the company to its Germany top-10 list of recommended
stocks.
Banco Santander <SAN.MC>, Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX>, HSBC
<HSBA.L> and UniCredit <CRDI.MI> rose between 1.4 and 2.5
percent.
TECHNIP <TECF.PA> RISES
Oil services company Technip <TECF.PA> rose 4.9 percent
after Nomura upgraded it to "neutral" from "reduce".
Several defensive stocks declined, having been among the best
performers during the market's decline in the past few days.
Telecoms giant Vodafone <VOD.L> closed 1 percent lower.
Among pharmaceuticals, Roche <ROG.VX>, AstraZeneca <AZN.L> and
Novartis <NOVN.VX> fell between 0.6 and 0.9 percent.
UK insurer Aviva <AV.L> fell 4 percent, extending its
decline this week to more than 14 percent, on continued worries
it may have to cut its dividend.
The International Monetary Fund raised its 2010 global
growth outlook, but warned that neither the economy nor the
banking industry at the heart of the financial crisis were
strong enough to do without heavy public spending and cheap
central bank funds.
Leaders of the Group of Eight industrial nations meeting in
Italy agreed that in spite of rounds of interest rate cuts and
an estimated $5 trillion in public spending, it was much too
early to cut off economic lifelines.
The Bank of England surprised markets by announcing no
expansion of its quantitative easing scheme as it left interest
rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent for a fourth
month running. []
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> were up 0.5-1.3 percent
Wall Street was mixed as European bourses were closing. The
Dow Jones <> was down 0.1 percent; the S&P 500 <.SPX> and
Nasdaq Composite <> were up 0.3 and 0.2 percent
respectively.
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
