Europe stocks close higher, up for 6th straight week

                                
 * FTSEurofirst 300 closes up 1.6 pct
* Banks boosted by Citigroup results
* Telecoms soar on upbeat broker comments
By Brian Gorman
                                
 LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - European shares closed higher
on Friday, rising for the sixth straight week, with banks
gaining after better-than-expected results from Citigroup <C.N>
and General Electric <GE.N>.
                                
 The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares
rose 1.6 percent to 814.69 points, its highest close in more
than two months. Over the week, the index rose 4.7 percent.
                                
 Banks were given a boost after Citigroup reported
first-quarter revenues of $24.8 billion and a loss of 18 cents
per share, better than forecasts. [ID:nN17310824]
                                
 Citigroup shares were down 5.7 percent on Wall Street on
comments from the company indicating consumer credit
deterioration remained a worry, but banks in Europe rallied on
hopes that the worst was over for the sector.
                                
 BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, Barclays <BARC.L>, Deutsche Bank
<DBKGn.DE>, Lloyds <LLOY.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> and
UBS <UBSN.VX> rose between 4.6 percent and 16.6 percent.
                                
 "What this shows, and what the market is reacting to
directly, is that banking is very profitable if you take out all
the stupid stuff, like exotic derivatives," said David Evans,
market analyst at BetOnMarkets.com.
                                
 "If you're the middleman in things like fixed income
transactions, and forex, it's extremely profitable."
                                
  But Wall Street was lower as European bourses were closing.
The Dow Jones <.DJI> and S&P 500 <.SPX> were both down 0.3
percent; the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> was down 0.9 percent. 
                                
 Evans said: "It seems that people are questioning earnings
now a bit more because of the bail-out factor."   
                                
 "With all the accounting rules changes, investors are quite
sceptical as they think some of the profits might have come from
that. 
                                
 General Electric Co <GE.N> reported a better-than-expected
quarterly profit as strength at its energy equipment business
offset falling earnings at its hefty finance arm and the NBC
Universal media unit. [ID:nN17446745]
                                
 The pan-European index has risen 26.2 percent from the
lifetime low it hit on March 9, and has reduced its loss for
2009 to just 2.1 percent. It fell 45 percent in 2008, hammered
by a banking crisis and worldwide economic slowdown. 
                                
  "What we have got now is a market which has got a slightly
more confident look. It is really wanting to see how the results
season pans out. There is a view underway that recovery is a
matter of time and the worst of the earnings downgrades are
behind us now," said Mike Lenhoff, strategist at Brewin Dolphin.
                                
 
                                
 TELECOMS GAIN
                                
 Telecom stocks were among top gainers in the FTSE <.FTSE>
with BT Group <BT.L> and Vodafone <VOD.L> rising 9.4 percent and
3.9 percent respectively. Morgan Stanley said it sees a 45
percent upside on Vodafone stock.
                                
 Mobile phone maker Ericsson <ERICb.ST> gained 4 percent
after Sony Ericsson posted a slightly smaller loss than expected
for the first quarter [ID:nSAB021154]
                                
 Carrefour <CARR.PA> fell 2.1 percent as the market reacted
to its trading statement, issued after Thursday's close. The
world's No. 2 retailer reported lower quarterly sales for the
first time in six years [ID:nLG521171]
                                
 Further indications that the worst may be over came from the
Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers' preliminary
April consumer sentiment index, which  rose to 61.9 from March's
final reading of 57.3 [ID:nN17323044]
                                
 But Bank of Ireland <BKIR.L> and Allied Irish Banks <ALBK.I>
fell 13.6 percent and 5.8 percent respectively. The Irish
government's "bad bank" solution for the sector's soured debts
should be scrapped in favour of full, temporary nationalisation
of the system, 20 leading academic economists said in an opinion
piece in the Irish Times newspaper on Friday. [ID:nLH543086]
Accor <ACCP.PA> fell 4.7 percent after the French group
posted a 9.6 percent drop in first-quarter sales as weakening
economies hurt demand for its hotels.
                                
 Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX
<.GDAXI> and France's CAC-40 <.FCHI> closed between 1 percent
and 1.8 percent higher. 
  (Additional reporting by Joanne Frearson; Editing by Sharon
Lindores)