LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - European shares closed higher on Tuesday for the third consecutive session, with commodity stocks rising on the back of firmer crude and metal prices, while M&A activtity boosted telecoms.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares provisionally closed up 0.2 percent at 977.69 points in a choppy session after being up as much as 982.63 points earlier and down as low as 974.13 points.
The index has rallied 51 percent since hitting a low in early March but it is still down 16 percent from its level in mid-Sept 2008 before the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The index briefly turned negative after the Conference Board, a private research group, said its U.S. Employment Trends Index inched lower to 88.1 in August from a revised 88.2 in July, originally reported at 88.3 and pointed to flat employment market for the rest of the year. "The U.S.jobs data is significant as those who are unemployed are unlikely to find employment and have no money to spend and those that do have a job will be sitting on their money and saving," said David Buik, partner at BGC Partners.
"This is significant for the market as retail spending is 70 percent of GDP. This could be devastating," he said.
In Europe, miners were major gainers supported by higher metal prices with gold powering through the $1,000 per ounce psychological barrier.
Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, Rio Tinto and Xstrata were up 1.7 to 3.7 percent.
Telecom stocks Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom rose 1.8 percent and 1.7 percent respectively. The groups have launched exclusive talks to merge their British mobile units in a joint venture that would grab the top spot in the cut-throat UK market. (Reporting by Joanne Frearson)