* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.5 pct, rebounds from Wednesday drop
* Investors await BoE, ECB rate decisions, statements
* Banks, oils advance; miners slip
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Atul Prakash
LONDON, June 4 (Reuters) - European equities climbed on
Thursday ahead of rate decisions from the Bank of England and
the European Central bank, with banks and drugmakers gaining
ground and oil shares rising on the back of higher crude prices.
At 0822 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.5 percent at 872.74 points after
slipping more than 2 percent in the previous session. The index,
which slumped 45 percent in 2008, has jumped 35 percent since
falling to a lifetime low in early March.
Energy stocks were among top gainers as they tracked crude
oil prices <CLc1>, which rose 1.3 percent. BP <BP.L>, Royal
Dutch Shell <RDSb.L>, Tullow Oil <TLW.L>, Repsol <REP.MC>, Total
<TOTF.PA> and StatoilHydro <STL.OL> added 0.1-1.6 percent.
Financial stocks also advanced, with Barclays <BARC.L>,
Lloyds <LLOY.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L>, UBS <UBSN.VX>
and Swedbank <SWEDa.ST> rising 1.1-6.3 percent.
Investors awaited interest rate decisions later in the day
and were avoiding big trading moves, analysts said.
"Investors will look quite closely at the details, but this
is not a big deal to drive the markets in any direction as no
big decisions are awaited. The markets will be torn between
positive equity news and profit-taking," said Franz Wenzel,
strategist at AXA Investment Managers, in Paris.
"The market will remain shaky. After a decent performance
for three months in a row, people are getting tempted to take
some profits despite the fact that we are seeing more and more
green shoots," he added.
The European Central Bank is set to keep interest rates on
hold on Thursday with markets keen to see the details of its
covered bond purchase plan as well as clues on whether rates may
yet be cut further. []
The Bank of England is also expected to keep interest rates
at a record low 0.5 percent and refrain from expanding its
quantitative easing plan. []
Across Europe, the FTSE 100 index <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> were up 0.6-1.1 percent.
TECHNICAL OUTLOOK
In the last few days, the FTSEurofirst 300 index has tested
and held technical support on the bottom of its uptrend channel
extending back to early March, now at 872 points. The top of the
channel is currently at 945 points.
It faces resistance at the January peak of 895 and technical
analysts said the market might struggle in the near term.
"There is not much room left on the upside for stocks," said
Alexandre Le Drogoff, technical analyst at Aurel-BGC.
"The DJ Stoxx 600 <> is stuck around its 200-day
moving average, and it's getting more and more difficult to
break out from this zone as people are getting cautious again
and prone to take profits," he said.
Pharmaceutical shares, often seen as defensives, gained
ground. AstraZeneca <AZN.L>, GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, Novartis
<NOVN.VX> and Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> were up 0.9-1.9 percent.
But miners were broadly lower. BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Anglo
American <AAL.L>, Antofagasta <ANTO.L> and Eurasian Natural
Resources <ENRC.L> fell 0.5-1.7 percent.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L> was down 0.8 percent. Sources said that
Chinese state-owned metals firm Chinalco may revise its planned
$19.5 billion investment in Rio before a June 14 deadline to
avoid further delays in Australian government approval.
[]
EADS <EAD.PA> rose 2 percent after the Wall Street Journal
said that UAL Corp's <UAUA.O> United Airlines has asked Boeing
Co <BA.N> and EADS's Airbus to propose competing bids for up to
150 new airliners. The deal could be worth more than $10 billion
for the two aircraft makers, the paper said. []
Fiat <FIA.MI> rose 0.8 percent. Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday his government would be
willing to intervene with Germany to support Fiat's bid for Opel
if the Italian car maker were to ask for it. []
(Additional reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Jon
Loades-Carter)
