By Blaise Robinson

PARIS, Dec 27 (Reuters) - European stocks gained ground in early trade on Thursday, rising for the fourth consecutive session as mining shares advanced on buoyant base metal prices while recently beaten-down banks rallied.

Trading volumes were expected to be thin with a number of investors away on holiday.

French technology consultancy group Capgemini <CAPP.PA> dropped 4 percent after saying it had had no contact with India's Wipro <WIPR.BO>. The stock surged 10.5 percent on Monday on a newspaper report that Wipro could bid for the company.

At 0917 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent at a 10-day high of 1,514.21 points. Europe's benchmark index is up a thin 2.1 percent on the year, on track to record its worst annual performance since 2002.

"There is not much happening. We'll have to wait for the U.S. data to get some sort of direction. But volumes will remain very low until people are back next week," one trader said.

European stocks markets were closed on Tuesday and Wednesday for the Christmas holiday.

Investors will keep an eye on a flurry of U.S. economic data expected later in the day, such as durable goods sales for November and consumer confidence for December. The data could shed light on the outlook for the world's biggest economy.

Miners were on the rise, with Rio Tinto <RIO.L> gaining 1 percent, and Xstrata <XTA.L> adding 1.2 percent.

Rio hit back at BHP Billiton's <BLT.L> hostile takeover bid on Thursday, playing up its independent growth prospects amid renewed speculation of a Chinese-backed counter bid.

Rio Chairman Paul Skinner reminded shareholders in an open letter of Rio's growth plans for iron ore and copper mining and for aluminium production.

BHP Billiton was flat.

Energy shares gained ground as U.S. crude oil prices remained above $95 a barrel on renewed supply concerns. Total <TOTF.PA> was up 1.7 percent and Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L> up 0.5 percent.

Around Europe, Germany's DAX index <.GDAXI> was up 0.6 percent, UK's FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> up 0.3 percent and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> up 0.6 percent.

Banks advanced, with the Dow Jones STOXX bank index <.SX7P> up 0.6 percent. UBS <UBSN.VX> added 1.4 percent and Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> rose 1.1 percent.

The STOXX bank index is down 16 percent on the year, the worst performance among sectors in Europe, as banking shares suffer from a global credit crunch.

Gaz de France <GAZ.PA> shed 0.6 percent on news that the French government has allowed the company to raise its prices by 4 percent, below the 6.1 percent rise proposed by the company. (Reporting by Blaise Robinson, Editing by Erica Billingham) (([email protected] ; +33 1 4949 5269, Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/OPEN

 
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    For rolling updates on what is moving European shares  
    please click on [STXNEWS/EU] 
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 For pan-Europeanmarket data and news, click on codes in  
 brackets: 
 European Equities speed guide...................<EUR/EQUITY> 
 FTSEurofirst 300 index..............................<.FTEU3> 
 DJ STOXX index......................................<.STOXX> 
 Top 10 STOXX sectors...........................<.PGL.STOXXS> 
 Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors......................<.PGL.STOXXES> 
 Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors...................<.PGL.FTEU3S> 
 Top 25 European pct gainers.......................<.PG.PEUR> 
 Top 25 European pct losers........................<.PL.PEUR> 
    Main stock markets: 
 Dow Jones...............<.DJI>  Wall Street report .....[.N] 
 Nikkei 225.............<.N225>  Tokyo report............[.T] 
 FTSE 100...............<.FTSE>  London report...........[.L] 
 Xetra DAX.............<.GDAXI>  Frankfurt market stories[.F] 
 CAC-40.................<.FCHI>  Paris market stories...[.PA] 
 World Indices......................................<0#.INDEX> 
 Reuters survey of world bourse outlook..........<EQUITYPOLL1> 
 Western European IPO diary...........................[WEU/IPO] 
 European Asset Allocation.........................[EUR/ASSET] 
    Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............[TOP/EQE] 
    Main currency report:...............................[FRX/] 
  Keywords: MARKETS EUROPE STOCKS/ =2