* FTSEurofirst 300 rises 0.9 percent
* Miners, oil and gas stocks gain, banks advance
* ING advances, to repay state support
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Christoph Steitz
FRANKFURT, Dec 11 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday
as commodity stocks and banking shares led the market higher,
while investors were awaiting a slew of key U.S. economic data
later in the day.
At 0915 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
European shares was up 0.9 percent at 1,014.34 points after
advancing 1 percent on Thursday.
The index is up 22 percent this year and has surged 57
percent since falling to an all-time low in early March.
"Markets are slowly crawling towards the end of the year.
This could be observed over the last couple of days," said
Carsten Klude, strategist at M.M. Warburg in Germany.
Banks were higher, with HSBC <HSBA.L>, Barclays <BARC.L>,
Lloyds <LLOY.L>, Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> and BNP Paribas
<BNPP.PA> up 0.4-1.6 percent.
Dutch financial services group ING <ING.AS> rose 5.2 percent
on news it was to repay 5 billion euros in state support on Dec.
21. []
Miners were also in demand after a slew of Chinese data
showed the world's third-largest economy on a brisk recovery
path. Kazakhmys <KAZ.L>, BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, Rio Tinto <RIO.L>
and Xstrata <XTA.L> added 1.7-3.1 percent.
The DJ Stoxx Basic Resources Index <.SXPP> was the top
sectoral gainer, up 1.8 percent.
IMPACT FROM U.S. DATA
Energy stocks advanced and light crude <CLc1> was up 0.6
percent, as Iraq staged its second auction of oil contracts
since the 2003 invasion. []
BG Group <BG.L>, BP <BP.L>, Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>,
Total <TOTF.PA>, Petrofac <PFC.L> and ENI <ENI.MI> were 0.5-1.4
percent higher.
Shares in German gas specialist Linde <LING.DE> also rose
2.7 percent after Morgan Stanley upgraded the company to
'overweight' from 'equal weight'.
Later in the day, investors will focus on U.S. economic
data. The U.S. Commerce Department will release November retail
sales data at 1330 GMT, with economists in a Reuters survey
expecting a 0.7 percent rise.
"Macro data -- above all, retail sales and consumer
sentiment -- may have an impact later, but I wouldn't expect too
much," M.M. Warburg's Klude said.
At 1455 GMT, the focus will be on the preliminary
Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for
December. Economists in a Reuters poll expect a reading of 68.5.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <> index was 1
percent higher, Germany's DAX <> rose 0.9 percent and
France's CAC 40 <> added 0.6 percent.
(Editing by Dan Lalor)
