European shares edge higher led by Ryanair

LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - European stocks edged higher on Monday, led by low-cost airline Ryanair after an upbeat quarterly update, although weak results in the banking sector and ongoing jitters in emerging markets kept a lid on investor appetite.

Shares in Ryanair, up 6.1 percent at 0808 GMT, were the top risers on the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index after the company said price weakness is easing and affirmed its full-year profit guidance.

Swiss private bank Julius Baer (Other OTC: JBARF - news) and British lender Lloyds Banking Group, however, each fell around 2.6 percent after the former missed full-year profit targets and the latter announced fresh provisions for claims and said it plans to resume dividend payments later than some in the market had expected.

The broader FTSEurofirst 300 was up 0.4 percent at 1,296.06 points, having fallen in six of the past eight sessions.

The index fell 1.9 percent in January in its first monthly fall since August, as investors worried about the effect of slower growth in China and other emerging markets, reduced U.S. monetary stimulus and, last week, signs of a new slowdown in euro zone inflation.

Manufacturing PMI data from Europe's largest economies, due to be published shortly after the market open, was set to be scrutinised for clues about the state of the region's recovery, a key driver in the Euro STOXX 50's 18 percent rally in 2013.