* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.8 pct, rebounds from 10-week low
* Alcoa's results ease fears; boost miners
* Defensive pharmas, food stocks slip
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]
By Blaise Robinson
PARIS, July 9 (Reuters) - European stocks rose in early
trade on Thursday, halting a sharp five-session losing streak,
as forecast-beating results from U.S. bellwether Alcoa
At 0748 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was up 0.8 percent at 823.44 points, bouncing back from a 10-week low on Wednesday.
Miners and steelmakers were among the biggest gainers, with
Xstrata
"There has been nothing reassuring in macro data lately, so people are really hoping for good surprises on the earnings front," said David Thebault, head of quantitative sales trading, at Global Equities, in Paris.
"We're still in a downward trend, with a lot of 'puts' from institutional investors, so if we don't get better-than-expected results and positive comments from companies, stocks are heading for another 10 percent drop."
Kicking off the much-awaited earnings season, U.S. aluminium major Alcoa Inc reported a third consecutive quarterly loss on Wednesday, but cost cuts helped the company beat estimates by a large margin.
Alcoa's CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said there were signs that weak demand for aluminium -- which has prompted production cuts and sinking metals prices in the last nine months -- might be easing.
Alcoa's shares traded in Frankfurt
Around Europe, the UK's FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> gained 0.5 percent, Germany's DAX index <.GDAXI> rose 1.1 percent, and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> added 0.6 percent.
German business software maker SAP
"Given the low expectation level we do not see negative surprises from the second quarter," the broker wrote in a note.
Shares in pharmaceutical and food companies slipped, with
GlaxoSmithKline
On the macroeconomic front, data showed German imports fell by more than exports rose in May, pushing the trade surplus higher than expected to 10.3 billion euros ($14.34 billion) and lending some support to hopes the country's export engine may be firing up again. [ID:nL9393931]
EYES ON BOE
"This gives hope that exports will rise in the coming months," said Thorsten Polleit, economist at Barclays Capital.
"This isn't the start of an upswing, however, but rather a recovery from a low level. The economies of many important trading partners remain weak."
Later in the session, investors' focus will turn to the Bank of England's interest rate decision, due at 1100 GMT. According to a Reuters poll, the Bank of England will leave rates unchanged and is coming to the end of a quantitative easing programme that economists say will prove to have been effective. [ID:nL1164356]
After plummeting to a record low in early March, the FTSEurofirst 300 surged 38 percent during the spring. But the sharp rally stalled last month and stocks have given up some of their gains on concerns about the economic recovery and corporate profits, with the FTSEurofirst 300 down 7.4 percent since June 10. ($1=.7184 euros) (Additional reporting by Chris Steitz and Brian Rohan in Frankfurt; Editing by Mike Nesbit)