Europe stocks advance; telecoms, energy shares gain

LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - European equities advanced for the fifth session in a row on Monday, with positive telecoms shares and firmer energy stocks on the back of stronger crude outweighing a drop in the automobiles sector, hit by falling consumer demand.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares provisionally ended 1.7 percent higher at 871.02 points. It plunged 45 percent in 2008, but is about 16 percent up since hitting a 5-1/2-year low in November last year.

The telecommunications sector was one of the biggest gainers on the index on the first full day of 2009 trading for many, with Swisscom (SCMN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) rising 5.2 percent, Cable and Wireless (CW.L: Quote, Profile, Research) adding 4.2 percent, Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) up 4.3 percent and Portugal Telecom (PTC.LS: Quote, Profile, Research) rising 3.2 percent.

But autos were under pressure, with France and Japan posting steep falls in December car sales, adding to a swathe of poor data from an industry bearing the brunt of wrecked consumer confidence. BMW (BMWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Porsche (PSHG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), Renault (RENA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) were down 2.2-6.6 percent.

"The outlook is not really encouraging. We would anticipate that there is still going to be a lot of bad news out there that will be reflected in reduced valuations across all sectors," said Neil Parker, Market Strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland.