European shares boosted by upbeat euro zone data

* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.5 pct

* Euro zone manufacturing accelerates; U.S. ISM data eyed

* Strong earnings from ARM, Infineon boost tech firms

* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]

By Harpreet Bhal

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Tuesday as confidence about the economy gathered pace following upbeat euro zone manufacturing data while strong earnings from ARM and Infineon lifted technology firms.

By 0956 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares was up 0.5 percent at 1,149.69 points, after closing flat in the previous session prompted by concerns about political unrest in Egypt.

Investors were encouraged by data showing manufacturing activity in the euro zone accelerated more than previously thought in January, with reassuring improvement in peripheral countries with the exception of Greece. [ID:nSLAVCE7O2]

Traders will be looking see if Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing figures from the United States at 1500 GMT confirm the bright outlook for the economy after Monday's upbeat consumer spending and Midwest factory data.

"U.S. growth seems to be outperforming some of the wider European countries apart from Germany and that's a strong growing point for the global economy," said Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index.

Technology firms rose, with the STOXX Europe 600 technology sector <.SX8P> up 0.8 percent as the sector was encouraged by robust results from British chip designer ARM Holdings and German chip maker Infineon.

Infineon rose 2.3 percent after the company raised its outlook for its fiscal year through September 2011 following solid fiscal first-quarter results. [ID:nLDE70U0ZO]

British peer ARM added 2.9 percent after the firm beat expectations with a 47 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit helped by booming growth in smartphones and tablet computers, and said it was well placed for 2011 [ID:nLDE70U286]

"There is confidence in the market as companies are reporting good figures," said Heinz-Gerd Sonnenschein, equity markets strategist at Deutsche Postbank in Bonn.

"Company profits will be the trigger for markets to push higher if there is no escalation of the situation in the Middle East," resulting from the unrest in Egypt, he added.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 <.FTSE>, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> rose 0.4 to 0.7 percent.

MINERS ADVANCE

Heavyweight mining firms advanced, boosted by a rise in copper prices to a record high on positive purchasing managers index (PMI) figures from China and upbeat U.S. Midwest factory activity.

Eurasian Natural Resources , Kazakhmys and Vedanta Resources added 2.1 to 3.6 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index has risen 2.4 percent since the beginning of the year, and analysts said the index could be due for a correction after two straight months of gains.

"The momentum to the upside has to continue over the next two to three weeks or we could see a correction coming in. A correction of 5 to 8 percent can actually be quite healthy for a bull market," Raymond said.

Among individual movers, BP fell 1.8 percent after the oil major reported fourth-quarter net profit which fell short of analysts' forecasts.

Spain's Sabadell slid 6.2 percent after the retail bank completed a capital hike at a price implying a discount of 7 percent to Monday's close. [ID:nMDT009682] (Editing by Mike Nesbit)