European shares firmer as markets eye Wall St re-opening

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares and the euro rose on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to key economic data and waited for Wall Street to re-open after a two-day closure.

Traders said October surveys of manufacturing activity in China and the United States on Thursday, the monthly American jobs report on Friday and the U.S. presidential election next week all had the potential to whip the markets around.

"Most asset classes remain within well-worn ranges," said Mitul Kotecha, head of Global FX Strategy at Credit Agricole CIB.

"Given the lack of first-tier data releases on tap today we do not expect this picture to change ahead of the U.S. jobs report at the end of the week," he said in a note to clients.

The euro was slightly firmer at around $1.2985, within the $1.28 to $1.32 range seen since mid-September, supported by a well-received Italian debt auction on Tuesday, together with improved Spanish economic data.

Sentiment was also helped by German retail sales numbers for September, which rose at their fastest pace since June 2011, surprising most analysts.

European stocks added to solid gains made on Tuesday, but most attention is on Wall Street, where the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and U.S. bond markets are set to re-open after being shut by storm Sandy.

The FTSE Eurofirst index of top European shares rose 0.35 percent to 1,107 points, making a gain of around 1.5 percent this month. London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX traded between 0.2 and 0.6 percent higher.

U.S. stock futures were up 0.6 percent.

Euro area labour market figures due out later could affect sentiment, with another increase in the unemployment rate expected for September.

German government bonds moved lower as investors prepared for a big sale of longer-dated debt by Germany and France.

Germany will sell 2 billion euros of July 2044 bonds after demand for the safe-haven paper picked up at a sale of 10-year Bunds last week. France will sell up to 7.5 billion euros of bonds with a maturity of up to 2035.

(Reporting by Richard Hubbard; Editing by Will Waterman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/european-shares-firmer-markets-eye-wall-st-opening-084610319--finance.html

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