* FTSEurofirst 300 index <> ends 1.6 percent higher
* Upbeat results by ArcelorMittal, Siemens boost stocks
* Financials gain as central banks expand liquidity efforts
By Eva Kuehnen
FRANKFURT, July 30 (Reuters) - European shares ended sharply
higher on Wednesday, lifted by upbeat results from industrial
bellwethers Siemens <SIEGn.DE> and ArcelorMittal <ISPA.AS>,
while financials rose after major central banks expanded
liquidity-boosting measures.
ArcelorMittal, the world's No. 1 steelmaker, reported record
second-quarter results that easily exceeded expectations as it
managed to raise prices and offset raw material costs despite
economic gloom.
The DJ Stoxx basic material index <.SXPP> rose 4.4 percent
with ThyssenKrupp <TKAG.DE> up 7.8 percent and Salzgitter
<SZGG.DE> up 3 percent.
Arcelor shares rose 8.2 percent and were the strongest
positive weight in the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index
<>, which ended up 1.6 percent at 1,181.32 points, after
rising 0.3 percent in the previous session.
Markets also drew support from a move by U.S., European and
Swiss central banks to extend liquidity offerings to stressed
banks and securities firms to ease credit strains that have
weighed on the global economy for nearly a year.
"The Fed has expanded its measures and signals very clearly
that it will do everything to support the financial system,"
said Rainer Sartoris, economist at HSBC Trinkaus.
"This has a positive impact on the stock markets. Investors
are now hoping again for more stability," he added.
Financial stocks gained with HSBC <HSBA.L> up 2.7 percent,
Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> up 3.9 percent and BNP Paribas
<BNPP.PA> gaining 2.3 percent.
Christian Stocker, strategist at Munich-based UniCredit,
said the move supported a trend that was set by U.S. banking
stocks overnight after Merrill Lynch <MER.N> agreed to sell a
massive debt portfolio at a discount, raising investor hopes it
was putting its problems behind it.
Investors said Merrill's latest write-down may be a sign
that banks are nearly through purging their balance sheets of
bad mortgage debt.
"This trend may last for a couple of days, but in the longer
term, I don't think that we've seen the worst here and that we
will see further writedowns," Stocker said.
Lloyds TSB <LLOY.L> fell 4.7 percent after resilient
half-year results by the UK bank were undermined by the threat
of rising mortgage bad debts and lingering concern about its
capital position.
EXCELLENT GROWTH
Siemens was the second strongest positive weight on the
pan-European index with its shares up 5.8 percent after the
engineering group posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter
results thanks to major contracts in its two largest sectors.
"Siemens reported excellent top-line growth," said Roland
Pitz, analyst at Unicredit, who kept his buy rating.
Drugmakers were the most prominent losers.
Ireland's Elan <ELN.I> slumped 32.3 percent as clinical
trial results for its new Alzheimer's drug raised safety issues,
while Belgium's UCB <UCB.BR> tumbled 8.3 percent after U.S.
regulators gave it a "non-approvable" letter for a pain drug.
Bayer <BAYG.DE>, which posted in-line second-quarter
results, fell 1.9 percent as analysts voiced concerns over the
outlook of its health care unit and the effects of generic
competition.
(Editing by Richard Hubbard)
