European shares end near high on positive U.S. data

LONDON - European shares rose toend near 33-week highs on Thursday as further signs of animprovement in the U.S. economy boosted sentiment towardsequities.

Figures showed new claims for U.S. unemployment benefitsfell back to a four-year low last week and manufacturing dataimproved, which added to recent positive figures from Germanythat suggest the global economy is slowly recovering.

Analysts and fund managers remained positive on the market soutlook in the near term, with some advising investors graduallymove back to cyclicals to reap stronger benefits. 
"Ample liquidity provided by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central bank has put a safety net below the stockmarket, which is also getting support from economic numbers thatare stabilising, "Giuseppe-Guido Amato, strategist at Germanbrokerage Lang & Schwarz, said. 
"I see an upside potential of about 5 percent for DAX by theend of April" he said, referring to the German benchmark shareindex, which was up 0.9 percent and has surged morethan 20 percent this year after falling 14.7 percent in 2011.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European sharesprovisionally finished 0.3 percent higher at 1,101.46 pointsafter hitting its highest since August in the previous session.The index is already up 10 percent this year, almost fullyrecovering after its 10.7 percent decline last year.

(Reuters)