Banks lead European shares higher, eyes on job data
* FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index up 0.2 pct
* Banks gain, boosted by Royal Bank of Scotland
* Lafarge, L'Oreal down
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
FRANKFURT, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Banks led European stocks higher on Friday, following quarterly results from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), while investors also awaited key U.S. employment figures later in the day.
At 1132 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 992.35 points.
The European benchmark has gained almost 54 percent from its lifetime low in March and is up 19.3 percent so far this year.
Banking was the top DJ Stoxx .SX7P sectoral gainer, boosted by part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L), which said it more than halved third-quarter losses as impairments fell. [ID:nL6671701]
Shares in the bank were up 7.6 percent.
"Banking stocks are shooting up in an over proportional manner compared to the market. Yet this suggests to me that there is still some more risk in those stocks than the market is acknowledging," said Giuseppe-Guido Amato, strategist at Lang & Schwarz.
BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), Banco Santander (SAN.MC), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), HSBC (HSBA.L) and UBS UBS.AG were all up between 0.5 and 2.7 percent.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE and Germany's DAX .GDAXI were up 0.2 and 0.1 percent, respectively, while France's CAC-40 .FCHI was down 0.1 percent.
EYES ON JOBS DATA Continued...
