LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - European shares extended gains in afternoon trade on Friday after U.S. July payrolls fell less than forecast.
By 1317 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 309 index of top European shares was up 0.8 percent at 946.13 points, after hitting a new nine-month high of 947.77 points.
U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, far less than expected and the least in any month since last August, according to a government report on Friday that provided the clearest evidence yet that the economy was turning around.
Telecoms were among the top gainers on the pan-European index, while banks, which weighed heavily on the index in the morning, were also mostly in positive territory.
BNP Paribas, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank were up between 1.8 and 3.6 percent.
(Reporting by Dominic Lau and Brian Gorman) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/EXTEND (dominic.lau@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5440; Reuters Messaging: dominic.lau.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
By 1317 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 309 index of top European shares was up 0.8 percent at 946.13 points, after hitting a new nine-month high of 947.77 points.
U.S. employers cut 247,000 jobs in July, far less than expected and the least in any month since last August, according to a government report on Friday that provided the clearest evidence yet that the economy was turning around.
Telecoms were among the top gainers on the pan-European index, while banks, which weighed heavily on the index in the morning, were also mostly in positive territory.
BNP Paribas, Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank were up between 1.8 and 3.6 percent.
(Reporting by Dominic Lau and Brian Gorman) Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/EXTEND (dominic.lau@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5440; Reuters Messaging: dominic.lau.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.