* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.3 pct, up for 4th day
* Banks extend recent gains
* Transocean up on U.S. legal ruling
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Brian Gorman
LONDON, July 9 (Reuters) - European shares extended a rally
into a fourth session on Friday, after Wall Street was boosted
by falling jobless claims and solid sales from a handful of
large retailers.
At 0845 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.3 percent at 1,018.40 points, after
rising 5.1 percent in the previous three sessions, and on track
for its biggest weekly gain in nearly a year.
But the index is still down more than 8 percent from a
mid-April peak, on worries about debt levels in Europe and
slowing economic growth.
"We've had better information this week, such as German
exports, offsetting some of the worries about China slowing
down. China will slow down, but it's not going to stop," said
Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment
Management.
"But the markets can't find any real direction, as the
momentum may roll over, and we're not sure about growth next
year. But the market is also saying that we're not looking at
disasters either."
In a broad rally, the heavyweight banking sector was among
the gainers, with the STOXX Europe 600 banking index <.SX7P> up
0.8 percent. The index is up nearly 10 percent this week, on
optimism that European banks will pass stress tests, and after
U.S. bank State Street <STT.N> said its earnings would beat
forecasts.
Gainers included BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, BBVA <BBVA.MC>,
Credit Agricole <CAGR.PA> and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE>, up
between 1 and 1.3 percent.
Norway's biggest bank, DnB NOR <DNBNOR.OL>, rose 1.7
percent after saying it was cutting its loan loss expectations
for 2010 after its domestic market improved in the second
quarter and pretax earnings beat analysts' expectations.
MINER STRENGTH
Miners rose, with the price of copper and other metals
gaining, as the euro held near a two-month high against the
dollar.
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp.<ENRC.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L> and
Xstrata <XTA.L> rose between 2.1 and 2.2 percent.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L> rose 2.5 percent after Chief Executive Tom
Albanese said 2010 was shaping up well.
Antofagasta <ANTO.L> rose 2.7 percent after Citigroup upped
its rating for the Chilean copper miner to "buy" from "hold" on
valuation grounds based on its cash generation capabilities.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <> rose 0.1 percent;
Germany's DAX <> and France's CAC40 <> were up 0.5
and 0.4 percent respectively.
The Thomson Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index
<.TRXFLDPIPU> rose 0.9 percent.
Transocean <RIGN.VX>, the world's largest offshore drilling
contractor, gained 4.3 percent after a U.S. federal court
refused to reinstate a ban on deepwater oil drilling imposed
after BP's <BP.L> massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 1.2 percent on
Thursday, on upbeat economic data, including lower weekly
jobless claims.
Japan's Nikkei average <> booked its best weekly rise
in seven months on Friday and market players said more gains may
be in store after it moved further away from a seven-month low
and held above a key retracement support.
( Editing by Erica Billingham)
