* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.5 pct
* Euro zone manufacturing accelerates; U.S. ISM data eyed
* Strong earnings from ARM, Infineon boost tech firms
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on []
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Tuesday as
confidence about the economy gathered pace following upbeat euro
zone manufacturing data while strong earnings from ARM <ARM.L>
and Infineon <IFXGn.DE> lifted technology firms.
By 0956 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <>
index of top shares was up 0.5 percent at 1,149.69 points, after
closing flat in the previous session prompted by concerns about
political unrest in Egypt.
Investors were encouraged by data showing manufacturing
activity in the euro zone accelerated more than previously
thought in January, with reassuring improvement in peripheral
countries with the exception of Greece. []
Traders will be looking see if Institute of Supply
Management's manufacturing figures from the United States at
1500 GMT confirm the bright outlook for the economy after
Monday's upbeat consumer spending and Midwest factory data.
"U.S. growth seems to be outperforming some of the wider
European countries apart from Germany and that's a strong
growing point for the global economy," said Joshua Raymond,
market strategist at City Index.
Technology firms rose, with the STOXX Europe 600 technology
sector <.SX8P> up 0.8 percent as the sector was encouraged by
robust results from British chip designer ARM Holdings and
German chip maker Infineon.
Infineon rose 2.3 percent after the company raised its
outlook for its fiscal year through September 2011 following
solid fiscal first-quarter results. []
British peer ARM added 2.9 percent after the firm beat
expectations with a 47 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit
helped by booming growth in smartphones and tablet computers,
and said it was well placed for 2011 []
"There is confidence in the market as companies are
reporting good figures," said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, equity
markets strategist at Deutsche Postbank in Bonn.
"Company profits will be the trigger for markets to push
higher if there is no escalation of the situation in the Middle
East," resulting from the unrest in Egypt, he added.
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX
<> and France's CAC 40 <> rose 0.4 to 0.7 percent.
MINERS ADVANCE
Heavyweight mining firms advanced, boosted by a rise in
copper prices <CMCU3> to a record high on positive purchasing
managers index (PMI) figures from China and upbeat U.S. Midwest
factory activity.
Eurasian Natural Resources <ENRC.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and
Vedanta Resources <VED.L> added 2.1 to 3.6 percent.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index has risen 2.4 percent since the
beginning of the year, and analysts said the index could be due
for a correction after two straight months of gains.
"The momentum to the upside has to continue over the next
two to three weeks or we could see a correction coming in. A
correction of 5 to 8 percent can actually be quite healthy for a
bull market," Raymond said.
Among individual movers, BP <BP.L> fell 1.8 percent after
the oil major reported fourth-quarter net profit which fell
short of analysts' forecasts.
Spain's Sabadell <SABE.MC> slid 6.2 percent after the retail
bank completed a capital hike at a price implying a discount of
7 percent to Monday's close. []
(Editing by Mike Nesbit)
