* FTSEurofirst 300 index rises 0.4 percent
* Suez, Safran, Standard Life gain after results
* SAP falls after earnings news disappoints
By Joanne Frearson
LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - European shares rose on
Thursday to an eight-week closing high, boosted by strong
results from some companies including Suez Environnement
<SEVI.PA> and on hopes the U.S. central bank will support the
economy.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares closed up 0.4 percent at 1,153.70 points, to close at the
highest level since early March, but volume was only 95 percent
of its 90-day average ahead of a four-day holiday weekend in the
UK.
The market initially got a boost after the U.S. central bank
indicated late on Wednesday it was in no rush to start to scale
back the monetary stimulus support for the economy, triggering a
fall in the dollar to a three-year low.
"European markets seem to be feeling pretty robust," Lex van
Dam, hedge fund manager at Hampstead Capital, which has $500
million assets under management.
"My view is as long as (Federal Reserve chairman) Bernanke
keeps printing money and the dollar continues to weaken, that
stocks are very well underpinned."
Positive European earnings news gave the market some
support. Out of the 53 companies on the STOXX Europe 600
<> that have reported first-quarter results, 57 percent of
them have either beaten or met analysts' forecasts.
The utility sector featured among the top performers, with
Suez Environnement <SEVI.PA>, the world's second-largest
utility, rising 4 percent after quarterly sales beat
expectations. []
Financials were also in demand after earnings news.
Germany's biggest lender Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> rose 4.8
percent after quarterly net profit beat forecasts, while insurer
Standard Life <SL.L> gained 3.2 percent after sales came in
above expectations. [] []
Elsewhere, French aerospace and defence group Safran
<SAF.PA> jumped 6.2 percent after quarterly revenue grew 10.5
percent, which was slightly above several analysts' forecasts.
[]
On the technical front, charts signalled that the Euro STOXX
50 <>, the euro zone's blue chip index, up 0.9 percent
at 3,005.33 points was expected to post further gains.
Tom Pelc, head of technical strategy at RBS, said the index
may rise to 3,170 points -- the 50 percent retracement of a move
since the 2007 peak to the 2009 trough.
SAP DISAPPOINTS
However, gains were limited as not all earnings news was on
the positive side. German business software maker SAP <SAPG.DE>
lost 5.7 percent after first-quarter earnings disappointed
expectations. []
Elsewhere, the world's top magazine paper maker UPM-Kymmene
Oyj <UPM1V.HE> lost 7.1 percent after it made a smaller than
expected profit and warned that cost inflation this year may be
worse than previously expected. []
The market also briefly pared back some gains in afternoon
trade after U.S. first-quarter gross domestic product growth
came in below forecasts. []
Some analysts said in looking at the bigger macro economic
picture that they were cautious on earnings ahead.
"I am wary ... U.S. GDP data was poor," Jeremy
Batstone-Carr, strategist at Charles Stanley said. "The macro
picture is gloomy and it is going to be tough work for equities
to make significant headway."
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 <> index was flat,
Germany's DAX <> was up 1 percent and France's CAC 40
<> rose 0.9 percent.
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
