Oils help Europe stocks extend gains to 1 pct
LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - European shares extended gains to 1 percent by mid-morning on Friday, led by index heavyweight oil shares that mirrored a rally in crude prices.
At 0943 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was up 1.03 percent at 1,373.80 points, close to the session high at 1,374.
BP (BP.L) gained 1.8 percent, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) rose 2 percent and Total (TOTF.PA) gained 1.3 percent. Crude rose 1 percent to $125.33 a barrel.
Banks and pharmaceuticals also contributed to the rise in the index.
All 18 DJ Stoxx European sectors were up, and advancers on the FTSEurofirst 300 outpaced decliners by more than 6 to 1.
(Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
Citadel enters the fray
Kenneth Griffin's powerful hedge fund has waded into the case of Goldman Sachs' purloined computer code, suing three of its former employees for setting up Teza Technologies. Full Article | Full Coverage
