By Sitaraman Shankar
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - European shares ticked higher
in early trade on Friday as miners gained on bullish brokerage
comments and defensive drugmakers rose, while investors geared
up for U.S. inflation data for clues on interest rates.
At 0936 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.13 percent at 1,273.26 points.
Miners contributed the most points to the index, with Anglo
American <AAL.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L> and BHP Billiton <BLT.L>
rising 2.3 to 3 percent after Deutsche Bank lifted price targets
for some companies in the sector.
Pharmaceuticals also gained, with France's Sanofi-Aventis
<SASY.PA> rising 2 percent and Switzerland's Novartis <NOVN.VX>
up 1.2 percent.
And heavyweight oil stocks rose as crude traded well above
$107 a barrel. Total <TOTF.PA> and Shell <RDSa.L> rose 0.5 to
0.8 percent.
"We were due a bear-market rally and the question is: when
does it start? I think we're close," said Stephen Dowds, head of
international equities at Northern Trust.
"There have been some days where bad news has been shrugged
off, and while nothing's going to change fundamentally, some
stocks are looking really good value on a price perspective."
The FTSEurofirst 300 has risen 3.9 percent this week but is
down nearly 16 percent so far this year, putting it on track to
record its worst quarter since the third quarter of 2002.
The index has tracked global equities lower on fears that
credit-market ructions stemming from a meltdown in risky U.S.
mortgages will slow the broader economy and concerns over the
financial sector, which has suffered massive writedowns.
Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> fell 2 percent after the Wall Street
Journal reported that the head of the British bank's U.K. retail
banking business would move to Citigroup <C.N>. A spokesman for
Lloyds declined to confirm her move.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE <> and Germany's DAX
<> rose 0.4 percent, and France's CAC <> was 0.3
percent higher.
INFLATION, HOUSING
Later in the session, investor attention will shift to core
inflation data from the United States.
The Federal Reserve has cut rates 200 basis points so far
this year, giving a fillip to equity markets, but analysts said
the moves were not having enough of an impact on the crucial
banking sector.
Justin Urquhart Stewart of 7 Investment Management said more
rate cuts would still be "like pushing on a piece of string",
noting that the Federal Reserve had set its sights on growth.
"Even if inflation were still rising we'd still suspect
another rate cut at the end of April," Bear Stearns said in a
note.
British house prices fell for a fifth straight month in
March, bringing the annual rate of increase to its lowest in 12
years, the Nationwide Building Society figures showed.
Taylor Wimpey <TW.L>, Barratt Developments <BDEV.L> and
Persimmon <PSN.L> fell 2.2 to 5.5 percent. Traders attributed
the fall to the housing data and profit-taking after a rally on
Thursday.
(Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar; Editing by Quentin Webb)
