Accor rises as commodities shares lift European stock markets

LONDON, June 3 (Reuters) - European equities advanced on Friday, with French hotel group Accor (EUREX: 485822.EX - news) < climbing on a report that China's Jin Jiang was planning to hike its stake in the group, while a recovery in commodities prices boosted mining and energy stocks.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index and the STOXX Europe 600 index both gained 0.3 percent in early trading.

However, investors avoided strong bets ahead of U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . jobs data that could provide some hints about the timing of the Federal Reserve's likely move on hike interest rates. Non-farm payrolls probably rose by 164,000 jobs in May after rising by 160,000 in April, according to a Reuters survey.

Accor shares rose 3.3 percent, the top gainer in the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index, after French newspaper Le Figaro reported that China's Jin Jiang was considering increasing its stake in Accor to 29 percent. Accor declined to comment on the report.

The European basic resources and oil and gas indexes rose nearly 1 percent, the top sectoral gainers, after prices of crude oil and key industrial metals advanced. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)