European stocks inch higher at midday, luxuries up
* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.2 percent, ahead for third day
* Richemont CEO comment boosts luxury stocks
* HSBC advances on dividend hike hopes
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
PARIS, Nov 13 (Reuters) - European stocks were higher at midday on Friday and set to to record their best weekly gain in a month, with luxury shares rising after Richemont's (CFR.VX) new CEO said Christmas trading should be better than last year.
Richemont, which posted forecast-beating results, surged 6.2 percent, while LVMH (LVMH.PA) was up 1 percent with PPR (PRTP.PA) 0.7 percent higher.
Italian jeweler Bulgari (BULG.MI) added 4.5 percent after saying it returned to a net profit in the third quarter.
At 1230 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,016.77 points.
The index, on track for a 2.5 percent gain this week, has jumped 58 percent since reaching an all-time low in March. But the recovery rally has lost steam since the index touched a one-year high last month.
"After October's peak, the market dropped very quickly and then rebounded almost as fast as it fell. The swings killed the euphoria, and the market is now range-bound, and could stay like that for the whole month of November," said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading, at Global Equities, in Paris.
"We might see some sort of sector rotation starting in December, but for the moment, stock picking is back in force. There are big opportunities in long/short positions," he said.
HSBC (HSBA.L) featured among the biggest positives in the market, rising 1.4 percent on hopes Europe's biggest bank would pay a higher-than-expected dividend, traders said.
Vivendi (VIV.PA) gained 1.5 percent after Europe's largest entertainment group delivered forecast-beating third-quarter results, thanks mostly to the solid performance of its SFR telecoms unit.
Natixis (CNAT.PA) tumbled 6 percent after the French investment bank's quarterly profit missed forecasts.
"Following a high-profile change in management team in the second quarter, together with a 1 billion euro 'kitchen sinking' exercise and a guarantee on legacy assets by the parent bank, the market expected the company to beat consensus in the third quarter," Citigroup analysts said in a note.
On the economic front, investors were braced for preliminary reading on the November Reuters/University of Michigan sentiment index.
Around Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE was up 0.1 percent, Germany's DAX index .GDAXI was up 0.04 percent, and France's CAC 40 .FCHI was down 0.4 percent.
So far this year, the FTSE is up 19 percent, the DAX up 18 percent with the CAC 18 percent higher. (Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Dan Lalor)
