* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.2 percent
* Banks extend gains after Monday's rally
* Mining shares down tracking weaker metals prices
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - European shares drifted higher in
early trade on Tuesday as banks continued their upward journey
after surging in the previous session, while Siemens <SIEGn.DE>
advanced after posting positive results.
At 0926 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.2 percent at 786.42 points after
jumping 3.2 percent in the previous session, led by banks.
Banks added the most points to the index again on Tuesday,
with Barclays <BARC.L> rising 12 percent, adding to a 73-percent
surge in the previous session, when it said it had no need to
raise fresh capital.
Lloyds <LLOY.L> was up 12.4 percent, Royal Bank of Scotland
<RBS.L> jumped 15.2 percent and Societe Generale <SOGN.PA>
advanced 3 percent.
"The soothing noises coming from the financial sector have
given the markets a breather from the downward spiral," said
Chris Hossain, senior sales manager at ODL Securities.
"A positive finish for the Dow, and a relatively quiet day
for economic releases, means we may seem some relative safety in
the equity markets."
Siemens rose 4 percent after the German industrial
conglomerate said profit covering its three main divisions for
the first quarter of fiscal 2009 to Dec. 31 rose 20 percent to
2.005 billion euros ($2.64 billion), beating market
expectations. []
Software AG <SOWG.DE>, Germany's second-biggest software
company, jumped 9 percent after posting a rise in 2008 sales and
operating profit that beat market expectations thanks to its
market entry into Brazil and integration of its webMethods unit.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index <> was down 0.3
percent, Germany's DAX <> rose 0.3 percent and France's
CAC 40 <> was up 0.1 percent.
COMMODITY STOCKS DOWN
Miners retreated with a decline in metals prices. BHP
Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo American <AAL.L>, Vedanta Resources
<VED.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L> and Antofagasta <ANTO.L> fell between
0.5 percent and 4.2 percent.
Energy stocks were also under pressure. BP <BP.L>, Royal
Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>, gas producer BG Group <BG.L> and Total
<TOTF.PA> shed 0.3-1.9 percent.
"There is still so much uncertainty surrounding the markets
and poor economic data is still coming out," said James Hughes,
analyst at CMC Markets.
"Toxic debts are still a problem as no one knows their
extent. And until those numbers become a little bit clearer, we
are going to be under pressure."
Among other stocks, Dutch telecoms group KPN <KPN.AS> rose
3.4 percent after it reported fourth-quarter core earnings in
line with expectations, helped by its German mobile unit E-Plus
expanding its service revenue in a shrinking overall market.
In economic news, German corporate sentiment unexpectedly
improved for the first time in eight months in January, buoyed
slightly by a rise in business expectations, a closely watched
survey showed.
(Editing by Karen Foster)
