Heineken and SocGen help lift European shares

LONDON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Gains at drinks group Heineken (Amsterdam: HEIA.AS - news) and French bank Societe Generale (Paris: FR0000130809 - news) lifted European shares on Wednesday, while strong Chinese trade data also gave global equities a fillip.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose for a sixth straight session to stand 0.3 percent higher at 1,321.82 points in early session trading. The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index also gained 0.3 percent.

Heineken (Other OTC: HEINY - news) rose 2.6 percent after it forecast a return to revenue growth this year, while SocGen also rose more than 2 percent after it swung back to a profit.

Mining (LSE: MIR.L - news) stocks were the sectoral outperformer, however, after the strong data from China, the world's biggest consumer of metals.

Many investors have expressed concerns about a possible economic slowdown in China, but data on Wednesday showed the value of its imports and exports climbed around 10 percent last month from a year ago and beat expectations.