* FTSEurofirst 300 index up 0.4
* LVMH, Burberry jump after results beat forecasts
* Investors await Goldman Sachs result
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) - European shares rallied on
Tuesday as fund managers said strong earnings would support
markets in the short term, overshadowing economic risks, with
LVMH <LVMH.PA> and Burberry <BRBY.L> results' beating forecasts.
By 0837 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <>
index of top shares was up 0.4 percent at 1,116.73 points
recovering from a sell-off in the previous session when Standard
& Poor revised its credit outlook on the United States to
negative.
"We are going into earnings season and we think in the near
term it is reasonably supportive," James Buckley, head of
European equities at Baring Asset Management said, which has 30
billion pounds ($48.68 billion) of assets under management.
"We favour stocks which are exposed to the global economy and
continue to favour luxury good companies. LVMH, which we own,
had good results this morning."
Luxury group companies were in demand, with the STOXX Europe
600 Personal and Household Goods index <.SXQP> index up 1.5
percent.
LVMH <LVMH.PA>, the world's biggest luxury group, gained 3.9
percent after its first-quarter sales also beat analysts'
expectations, while British firm Burberry jumped 7.3 percent
after fourth-quarter underlying sales beat forecasts.
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The industrial sector was also in demand on strong earnings
news.
Manufacturing bellwether SKF, the world's top bearings
maker, jumped 5.1 percent after it posted forecast beating
first-quarter earnings, while Zodiac Aerospace <ZODC.PA> gained
3.6 percent after it raised its full-year margin target.
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Fund managers said the sell-off after S&P revision of the
United States had been overdone, with Wall Street ending
although down, off its lows on Monday.
"The market should be supported at these levels despite the
global macro economic concerns. The U.S. market closed well off
its lows, so the response in the state was fairly sanguine,"
Buckley said.
GOLDMAN EYED
However, traders said investors could turn cautious later in
the session ahead of results in the United States from banking
heavyweight Goldman Sachs <GS.N>.
"We have Goldman Sachs <GS.N> later and there could be some
caution before that, one negative comment from anyone and we
could be back down." Simon Clark, trader at ETX Capital said.
However, not all companies had strong earnings news. Tesco
<TSCO.L> shares slipped 0.8 percent after it announced a
larger-than-expected loss at U.S. chain Fresh & Easy and its new
boss Phil Clarke said it must do better in a tough UK market.
[]
In the background, investor concerns still remained about
the euro zone peripheral countries, with a sale of Greek
short-term debt expected to test the euro zone markets.
On Monday, yields rose at a Spanish bill tender on growing
talk of a Greek debt restructure, while a Greek newspaper on
Tuesday cited an EU source as saying the country has accepted
the fact that it cannot avoid restructuring its debt.
[]
Spain's IBEX 35 <> fell 0.2 percent, Portugal's PSI 20
<> gained 0.5 percent, Italy's benchmark <.FTMIB> was up
0.1 percent and the Athens General <> rose 0.4 percent.
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index was 0.5 percent
higher, Germany's DAX <> was up 0.3 percent and France's
CAC 40 <> rose 0.4 percent.
(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Louise Heavens)
($1=.6163 Pound)
