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European shares rise in choppy trade; US jobs eyed

Fri Nov 6, 2009 3:29am EST

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LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Europe shares rose in early trading on Friday, ahead of a key U.S. employment report, with banks and miners gaining.

At 0827 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.1 percent at 991.74 points.

The European benchmark is up more than 53 percent from its lifetime low of March 9, as investors have become more confident on the prospects for economic recovery.

Miners rose as gold prices hovered around $1,090 an ounce and copper prices rose. Anglo American (AAL.L), Antofagasta (ANTO.L), BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and Vedanta (VED.L) rose between 0.5 and 1.4 percent.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) rose 1.7 percent. The bank reported an operating loss of 1.5 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) in the third quarter as it took 3.3 billion pounds of bad debts and profits at its investment bank arm more than halved from the previous quarter. [ID: nL6671701]

BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), HSBC (HSBA.L) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) rose between 0.3 and 1.8 percent.

U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday, with the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI closing above 10,000 for the first time in two weeks, as economic data boosted confidence in the recovery and strong results from Cisco Systems (CSCO.O) suggested a rebound in technology spending.

At 1330 GMT, investors' attention will switch to the United States, where the key nom-farm payrolls data is due. According to a Reuters poll, 175,000 jobs were lost in October, down from 263,000 in September. (Reporting by Brian Gorman)



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