Europe Factors--Futures point to higher start; oil eyed

(Adds company news, details, futures; updates market snapshot)

PARIS, Jan 2 (Reuters) - European stock index futures pointed to a higher
start on Friday in the first session of the year, extending a recent rally, but
volumes were expected to be thin following the New Year break.

Energy shares could feel the pinch of lower oil prices, down more than 6
percent after Wednesday's strong rally.

At 0707 GMT, futures for the DJ Euro Stoxx STXEc1, for Germany's DAX
FDXc1 and for France's CAC FCEc1 were up between 0.4 percent and 1.1
percent.

European stocks advanced in thin trading on Wednesday, adding to recent
gains, but the region posted a loss of 45 percent for the year -- its biggest
annual fall as the markets were shattered by the worst economic crisis since the
Great Depression of he 1930s.

"The moves over the last few days of 2008 brought many some much needed
last-minute upside but we may need to take the moves with a pinch of salt,"
Jimmy Yates, dealer at CMC Markets, wrote in a note.

"With low volumes and little newsflow we may have seen some very fickle
markets. The big test will come when the newswires start filling back up and the
negative stories from last year start seeping in."

Japanese markets remained closed on Friday.

----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0703 GMT----------------------

LAST PCT CHG NET CHG

S&P 500 .SPX 903.25 1.42 % 12.61

NIKKEI .N225 8,859.56 1.28 % 112.39

MSCI ASIA EX-JP .MIASJ0000PUS 292.40 1.23 % 3.55

EUR/USD EUR= 1.3842 -1.06 % -0.0149

USD/JPY JPY= 91.20 0.53 % 0.4800

10-YR US TSY YLD US10YT=RR 2.252 -- 0.03

10-YR BUND YLD EU10YT=RR 2.949 -- 0.00

SPOT GOLD XAU= $872.45 -0.87 % -$7.70

US CRUDE CLc1 $41.90 -6.05 % -2.70

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

* Asian shares gain on 2009 hopes; oil slumps [ID:nT335038]
* Oil tumbles 4 pct after late surge capped dismal '08 [ID:nSP351690]

* Euro slides broadly, end-year rally seen overdone [ID:nHKG303796]

* TREASURIES-Drop further as risk appetite improves [ID:nHKG336567]

* Gold pares early gains after strong start in 2009 [ID:nSP383941]

* METALS-LME copper, aluminium kick off new year with gains [ID:nSYD361603]

COMPANY NEWS:

UNICREDIT (CRDI.MI)

The bank announced a flurry of last-minute deals to boost its Core Tier 1
ratio on Tuesday as it strives to reach its target of 6.7 percent for the key
benchmark by year-end. For details, see:[ID:nLU434103]
Separately, the Austrian government will step in to run Bank Medici, in
which UniCredit's Bank Austria holds 25 percent, after the Bernard Madoff
scandal hurt the Vienna-based bank, a source with direct knowledge of the matter
said on Wednesday. For details, see: [ID:nLV606134]

EDISON (EDN.MI)

Chief Executive Umberto Quadrino expects the industry to shrink next year,
he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Wednesday. "Our
projections are all below zero," he said. Edison has around 17 percent of
Italian energy production and Quadrino added that "in future will grow at the
rate the market grows at." Related news: [EDN.MI-LEN-RTRS]

E.ON (EONGn.DE), BASF (BASF.DE)

Russia cut off the gas to its neighbour Ukraine on Thursday after a contract
dispute. E.ON and BASF are among the biggest customers for Russian gas.

For details, see:[ID:nLV403396]

NOKIA (NOK1V.HE)

The world's largest mobile phone maker will focus on profit development amid
a falling cellphone market, Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told the
Financial Times. For related news [NOK1V.HE-LEN-RTRS]

LLOYDS TSB (LLOY.L)

Investors in Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L) and HBOS HBOS.L are likely to shun shares
in the combined group, giving rise to the prospect of a part-nationalisation,
The Independent said. The expected failure of the share offers will leave the
government owning up to 43.5 percent of what will become Lloyds Banking Group,
with a total investment of 17 billion pounds.

SIEMENS (SIEGn.DE)

Siemens is betting it will see an increase in contracts as funds from state
rescue packages across the world are used to invest in infrastructure, its chief
executive said. For details, see:[ID:nLU142898]

ALLIANZ (ALVG.DE)

Two more closed-end funds of Allianz's U.S. asset manager PIMCO said on
Wednesday they have postponed paying and setting dividends on their common
shares because turbulent markets left them unable to comply with regulations
governing the payments. For details, see:[ID:nN31376442]

PORSCHE (PSHG_p.DE)

The German sports car maker's Chief Executive Wendelin Wiedeking said the
current price war among carmakers who offer discounts and low interest on loans
could make the "house of cards collapse" in 2009, according to an interview
published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Friday.

Related news: [PSHG_p.DE-LEN-RTRS]

BEIERSDORF (BEIG.DE)

Beiersdorf's business will not be hurt by the global economic crisis as
there is still demand for its products, Chief Executive Thomas Quaas told German
weekly Die Zeit. For details, see:[ID:nLU81657]

EADS (EAD.DE)

EADS' planemaker Airbus has won back the hotly contested race for annual
orders from archrival Boeing Co (BA.N), according to its online order book,
having received 756 firm orders at the end of November.

For details, see:[ID:nN31375939]

RENTA (REN.MC)

Spain's Renta Corporacion said on Tuesday it had reached an initial
refinancing deal with the majority of a syndicate that lent the real estate firm
500 million euros. For more, click on [ID:nLU267262]

METROVACESA (MVC.MC)

The property company said on Tuesday that the Sanahuja family and creditors
had agreed to extend the deadline on a share swap deal and that creditors would
take 54.75 percent control of the company in January 2009, not Dec 23 as
originally planned.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; editing by Atul Prakash)