* FTSEurofirst 300 index rises 0.5 percent
* Miners rise as metals prices edge up
* Capital Shopping Centres jumps on bid interest
By Harpreet Bhal
LONDON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - European shares ended higher on
Thursday, with heavyweight mining shares boosted by rising
metals prices and bid interest in Capital Shopping Centres
<CSCG.L> lifting the real estate sector.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <> index of top
shares ended 0.5 percent higher at 1,092.80 points, though
trading was light as U.S. markets were closed for the
Thanksgiving Day holiday.
The STOXX Europe 600 basic resources index <.SXPP> gained
2.1 percent, as metals prices were boosted by a weak dollar and
upbeat U.S. economic data in the previous session.
However, worries over the euro zone debt troubles persisted,
putting pressure on some peripheral euro zone banking stocks,
with investors concerned about the risk of Ireland's debt
problems spilling over into Portugal and Spain.
Allied Irish Banks <ALBK.I> tumbled 5.9 percent, while
Spain's Banco Popular <POP.MC> and Portugal's Millennium bcp
<BCP.LS> shed 0.6 and 0.8 percent, respectively.
"The tensions in the euro zone are still an important factor
for equity markets, and these tensions have led to a very strong
diverging performance among national equity markets," said Tammo
Greetfeld, equity strategist at UniCredit Group in Munich.
"The DAX is continuing to show strong signs of relative
strength due to good fundamentals compared to other markets. The
Spanish market, for instance, is increasingly under pressure as
bond yields in Spain are rising."
While Britain's FTSE 100 <>, Germany's DAX <> and
France's CAC 40 <> rose between 0.3 and 0.8 percent, the
Thomson Reuters Peripheral Eurozone Countries Index
<.TRXFLDPIPU> added only 0.1 percent.
A parliamentary by-election in Ireland on Thursday is
expected to cut the government's majority to just two seats,
increasing the risk that the 2011 budget, a key step in its
plans to address its debt crisis, might not make it through
parliament on Dec. 7.
"The debt crisis has to be resolved fast, otherwise
confidence is going to slip. At that point, no economic data
will help, and we will have a serious correction," said Koen De
Leus, strategist at KBC Securities.
PROPERTY STOCKS RISE
Capital Shopping Centres <CSCG.L> climbed 12.9 percent on
bid interest from U.S. shareholder Simon Property <SPG.N>.
[]
Within the sector, Hammerson <HMSO.L>, Land Securities Group
<LAND.L> and British Land <BLND.L> rose 2.4 to 4.8 percent,
highlighting the strength of investor demand for quality
property assets in Britain.
Brokers notes also helped selected stocks push higher.
German steelmakers ThyssenKrupp <TKAG.DE> and Kloeckner
<KCOGn.DE> gained 4.1 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively,
after analysts said European market conditions were improving.
UBS raised its price target for ThyssenKrupp, while Goldman
Sachs increased its target for Kloeckner.
French bank Natixis <CNAT.PA> rose 3.7 percent after its
chief executive made positive comments on the impact of Basel
III rules in an interview with newspaper Les Echos.
(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Will
Waterman)
