European shares rise, led by periphery again

NDTV Profit Desk

10 Jan 2014, 01:56 PM IST

European shares rose in early trade on Friday, reversing the previous session's losses with markets on the euro zone periphery adding to brisk gains made so far this year.

Sentiment was boosted by a surge in Chinese imports, although the market's gains could be limited ahead of the U.S. monthly jobs report that may shed light on the outlook for the federal Reserve's stimulus programme.

At 0806 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.6 per cent at 1,322.58 points, with Spain's IBEX up 0.9 per cent and Italy's FTSE MIB up 0.7 per cent.

Shares in mining and metal groups bucked the trend, with Rio Tinto down 1 per cent and Norsk Hydro down 1.3 per cent, after U.S. aluminium major Alcoa Inc posted a massive quarterly loss and issued an outlook for stagnant growth in global aluminum demand.